NewsBlog: Creationist postdoc loses lawsuit Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 29th April 2008 10:53 PM GMT] A Massachusetts federal court judge last week (April 22) dismissed the case against a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who allegedly fired a postdoc in his lab because of the postdoc's creationist beliefs. The postdoc, Nathaniel Abraham, was dismissed from his position in the lab of molecular toxicologist Mark Hahn in November, 2004, after revealing that he believed in the literal truth of the Bible... Click to continue View comments (44) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Bioterror art case dismissed Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 23rd April 2008 03:06 PM GMT] An artist who was charged with mail and wire fraud for receiving postal packages of bacteria to be used in his artwork has been cleared. A federal judge on Monday (April 21) dismissed the case against Steven Kurtz, an art professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, saying that the government indictment against him "is insufficient on its face," The Buffalo News reported. Richard Ebright, a microbiologist at... Click to continue View comments (3) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: 1st cancer vaccine approved in Russia Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 9th April 2008 12:11 AM GMT] A New York-based biotech company announced today (April 8) that it has received approval for the first therapeutic cancer vaccine -- in Russia. It is the first approval by a regulatory body of a cancer immunotherapy. The therapy's approval in Russia won't in itself boost its chances for approval in the US or the EU, or improve the prospects of other cancer vaccines that are in the biotech pipeline, Ren Benjamin, senior biotech... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: New patent rules overturned Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 1st April 2008 11:44 PM GMT] A Virginia court struck down today (April 1) new patent rules which pharma and biotech companies argued would have limited their ability to protect their intellectual property. The new rules, which were finalized by the US Patent and Trademark Organization (USPTO) last August, limit inventors to two continuing applications, which add claims to an existing patent, and cap the total number of claims in a patent at 25. "Specifically in... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this blog

Alla's blog Alla Katsnelson Location: Philadelphia, USA Who am I? Associate Editor Previous months >>   July 2008 >>   June 2008 >>   May 2008 >>   April 2008 >>   March 2008 >>   February 2008 >>   January 2008 >>   December 2007 >>   November 2007 >>   October 2007 >>   September 2007 >>   August 2007