Antibodies in shark blood could offer a powerful weapon against cancer, suggest Australian researchers who found the antibodies can withstand high temperatures and extremely acidic or alkaline conditions.

This suggests that shark antibodies may be able to survive in the harsh environment of the human gut, a capability that's vital in the development of a cancer-fighting pill, BBC News reported.

The researchers also found that shark antibodies can also attach to cancer cells and prevent them from spreading.

"The (cancer) cells actually grow less than when we don't add a shark antibody or we add a completely irrelevant shark antibody," said Mick Foley, an associate professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, BBC News reported. "So this indicates the shark antibody that we have is binding to those cancer cells and for some reason causing them to grow more slowly and perhaps even killing them."

It's also hoped that shark antibodies may treat other conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and malaria.  

An Oklahoma law forbidding a woman from having an abortion until she has an ultrasound and has a physician give her a description of the fetus is being challenged in court.

According to the Associated Press, the law, which goes into effect Nov. 1, is being contested on grounds that it violates a woman's privacy, endangers health and assaults dignity. Oklahoma is joining Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi as the states having a mandatory ultrasound and consultation law, the wire service reported.

The lawsuit was filed late last week in Oklahoma County District Court by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights advocacy group, the AP reported. What makes the Oklahoma law different from the other three states, the wire service reported, is that the ultrasound picture of the fetus is to be turned toward the woman as the doctor describes the dimensions of the fetus to her.

The Oklahoma state Legislature overrode Gov. Brad Henry's veto, and the bill's sponsor, Republican Senator Todd Lamb, told the AP: "I introduced the bill because I wanted to encourage life in society. In Oklahoma, society is on the side of life."

The plaintiff's lead lawyer, Stephanie Toti, told the wire service, "Anti-choice activists will stop at nothing to prevent a woman from getting an abortion, but trying to manipulate a woman's decisions about her own life and health goes beyond the pale."