News: Govt settles anthrax suit Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 30th June 2008 05:30 PM GMT] A former US army biodefense researcher who was a "person of interest" in the still-unsolved case of the 2001 anthrax letters and who sued the government, claiming the investigation ruined his reputation, will receive a $5.8 million settlement from ... Click to continue View comments (3) | Comment on this news story News: Birds of a feather Posted by Megan Scudellari [Entry posted at 26th June 2008 07:08 PM GMT] In the largest ever study of bird genetics, a five-year international collaboration has redrawn the avian family tree. The report, published in Science this week (June 27), proposes surprising new classifications and suggests that environmental ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: NIH funding increase stalled Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 26th June 2008 06:46 PM GMT] A spending bill that would increase the National Institutes of Health 2009 budget by $1.2 billion over President Bush's proposed NIH budget was sidelined by partisan wrangling in the full ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Stem cell patents final in US, debated in Europe Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 26th June 2008 03:54 PM GMT] After three contentious stem cell patents were upheld in the US earlier this year, the debate over one of the patents continues this week in Europe. The Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office heard a dispute on Tuesday (June 24) on awarding ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Conflict probe turns to Stanford Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 25th June 2008 09:03 PM GMT] The irascible conflict of interest hunter, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), has set his sights on a Stanford University psychiatrist who's running a federally funded clinical trial on a drug ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: UK to boost clinical trial participation Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 25th June 2008 05:02 PM GMT] The UK government will take steps to make sure patients are better informed of opportunities to participate in clinical trials, according to the country's health minister. Doctors in the UK "already have a duty to advise patients, in each patient's ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Science nabs lying fisherman Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 25th June 2008 02:51 PM GMT] A man attempting to cheat his way into a $500 prize for catching a hefty Chinook salmon was recently foiled by one of the most basic tenets of fisheries biology: if you know a fish's ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Seven questions for Congress Posted by Alison McCook [Entry posted at 24th June 2008 06:41 PM GMT] With all the obsession over who will take over the White House in 2009, it's easy to forget that November will see hundreds of other US national elections. These will concern Congress, and ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: GSK donates genomic data Posted by Edyta Zielinska [Entry posted at 24th June 2008 05:37 PM GMT] GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced plans on Friday (June 20th), to donate genomic profiles of more than 300 cancer cell lines to the caBIG database, a ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: NJ stalls stem cell plans Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 24th June 2008 03:39 PM GMT] New Jersey officials have pulled funds for the construction of a state stem cell institute which broke ground eight months ago. Governor Jon Corzine told ... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this news story News: PubMed up for public service award Posted by Megan Scudellari [Entry posted at 23rd June 2008 09:56 PM GMT] The director of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) was chosen as a finalist last week (June 18) to receive a national public service award for developing PubMed Central. "I think it's a recognition of the value of PubMed ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: UK psychiatrist suspended for plagiarism Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 23rd June 2008 06:37 PM GMT] One of Great Britain's most media savvy psychiatrists, who confessed to plagiarizing other authors in articles he wrote in newspapers and medical journals, has been suspended from practicing ... Click to continue View comments (4) | Comment on this news story News: Invitrogen starts AB integration Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 20th June 2008 07:56 PM GMT] Biotech tools company Invitrogen has appointed a team charged with integrating the company's operations with those of Applied Biosystems (AB), another biotech tools company, which Invitrogen ... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this news story News: NIH boost moves forward Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 20th June 2008 06:54 PM GMT] The NIH is a step closer to getting a $150 million boost by September. Last night (June 19) the House of Representatives passed a supplementary 2008 appropriations bill that includes a hefty chunk to the agency. Of $400 million that the Senate ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Anthony Pawson wins Kyoto Prize Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 20th June 2008 02:59 PM GMT] A microbiologist who changed science's understanding of cell signal transduction and protein structure has won the 2008 Kyoto ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: New role for supporting brain cells Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 19th June 2008 07:55 PM GMT] Glial cells, long thought to be supporting actors to neurons, play a crucial role of their own in regulating neuronal activity, according to a study published in Science this week. The study's results suggest that glial cells provide the link ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Molecular biologist Gunther Stent dies Posted by Edyta Zielinska [Entry posted at 19th June 2008 04:59 PM GMT] Gunther Siegmund Stent, whose work on bacteriophages helped establish the foundations of molecular biology, died on June 12 of pneumonia. "He was a very remarkable guy. It's hard for any one person to get a full appreciation of what he's done ... Click to continue View comments (5) | Comment on this news story News: Boost for NSF funding Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 19th June 2008 04:35 PM GMT] The US Senate and House of Representatives have approved a 14 percent funding increase for the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 2009. A Senate appropriations subcommittee approved the measure yesterday (Jun 18), and a House subcommittee passed ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Growing a backbone Posted by Megan Scudellari [Entry posted at 18th June 2008 06:00 PM GMT] Researchers have discovered a conserved mechanism among vertebrates that determines body segment number, according to a study published online in Nature today (June 18). The number of body segments an organism has varies greatly between species: ... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this news story News: Revise HIPAA: Health researchers Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 17th June 2008 10:48 PM GMT] A rule meant to protect the privacy of medical patients impedes critical health research by limiting access to stored tissue and genetic datasets and by hampering research participant recruitment, according to an Association of Academic Health ... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this news story News: Billions for biotech Posted by Edyta Zielinska [Entry posted at 17th June 2008 04:14 PM GMT] Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announced his proposal to invest $1.1 billion in biotech industry, which could trump the $1 billion already signed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Monday (June 16). Now the race for the biggest biotech ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: $Billions of fraud in HHS programs Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 16th June 2008 04:24 PM GMT] The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) will recover more than $2 billion through audits and investigations of fraud, waste and abuse in HHS programs, the office ... Click to continue View comments (3) | Comment on this news story News: Reprogramming ups mortality? Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 16th June 2008 03:04 PM GMT] Chimeric mice generated from cells reprogrammed for pluripotency (induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells) show significant health problems, pointing to further challenges that must be overcome before such cells can be used in the clinic, noted ... Click to continue View comments (4) | Comment on this news story News: Embryonic stem cells still gold standard Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 13th June 2008 09:53 PM GMT] The technical challenges of using retroviruses to reprogram cells to a pluripotent state could be worked out within the year, researchers said today in a press conference at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: A fine time for equines Posted by Margaret Guthrie [Entry posted at 13th June 2008 02:54 PM GMT] The American Museum of Natural History's new exhibit explores the human - horse relationship When I was seven years old I decided I'd rather be a horse than a human. In an attempt to dissuade me from this point of view, my parents had me start ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Compounds target cancer stem cells Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 12th June 2008 09:36 PM GMT] New compounds that target leukemia stem cells are moving into the clinic this summer. But researchers have yet to pin down exactly how some of these compounds do their job. Today at the International Society for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems merge Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 12th June 2008 04:39 PM GMT] Biotech company Invitrogen announced today (Jun 12) that it will acquire Applied Biosystems in a deal valued at $6.7 ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Stem cell guidelines on the way Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 12th June 2008 04:28 PM GMT] You can now have your say about regulations on bringing stem cell therapies to the clinic. A special task force set up to create guidelines for bringing stem cell therapies from bench to bedside will be accepting public commentary on the ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Trees have internal thermostat Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 11th June 2008 08:48 PM GMT] Trees from the Caribbean to Canada maintain a constant leaf temperature regardless of the ambient air temperature, according to a ... Click to continue View comments (5) | Comment on this news story News: GSK slashes workforce Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 11th June 2008 06:57 PM GMT] In another move to encourage innovation while trimming its research and development budget, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it will cut two percent, or 350 jobs, from its global R&D staff, according to ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Senate tweaks bioterror regs Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 11th June 2008 03:57 PM GMT] The US Senate today (June 11) plans to introduce a biosafety bill that takes small steps towards resolving some controversial aspects of the system regulating research with agents that could be used for bioterrorism. The regulations, called the ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Big pharma gets creative Posted by Alla Katsnelson [Entry posted at 10th June 2008 09:53 PM GMT] With blockbuster drug patents set to expire in the next few years, big pharma is looking hard for ways to pack the discovery pipeline. One approach: the biotech model. Patrick Vallance, the head of drug discovery at GlaxoSmithKline, said at a ... Click to continue View comments (3) | Comment on this news story News: Fauci at the UN Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 10th June 2008 04:31 PM GMT] Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City today (Jun 10), telling ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: FDA investigators banned Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 10th June 2008 03:31 PM GMT] The Food and Drug Administration has disqualified seven investigators so far this year for misconduct, according to an FDA document. The ruling bars the doctors from conducting clinical ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Big bucks for peer review? Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 9th June 2008 09:24 PM GMT] The NIH's $1 billion plan to improve peer review also includes compensation for reviewers: Grant reviewers will be compensated $250,000 for six years of service, if they qualify, The Chronicle ... Click to continue View comments (8) | Comment on this news story News: Who's the greatest woman scientist? Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 9th June 2008 05:24 PM GMT] Cosmetics company L'Oreal has launched a search for the most influential woman scientist of all time. The corporation, which for the past ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: NIH peer review "review" ends Posted by Alison McCook [Entry posted at 6th June 2008 07:36 PM GMT] The NIH has wrapped up its year-long effort to reform the way it reviews grant applications, releasing today (June 6) a report that focuses on changes such as shortening and redesigning applications, making it easier for good reviewers to serve, and ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Cane toads wreaking more havoc Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 6th June 2008 06:30 PM GMT] More bad news from Australia's war on cane toads: Now they're killing freshwater crocs. According to a ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Jobs at MedImmune Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 5th June 2008 07:49 PM GMT] In a world where most companies seem to be cutting jobs, one company is looking to up their ranks by 25%. MedImmune announced today that they are looking to fill more than 800 positions in research and development and the clinic. AstraZeneca ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: NIH 2009 funding hopes Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 5th June 2008 03:19 PM GMT] A new funding guideline for the National Institutes of Health is making its way through Congress. Yesterday the Senate approved a budget resolution that includes $59.7 billion for health categories, including the NIH. This represents nearly 6% ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Med schools failing on conflicts? Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 4th June 2008 05:15 PM GMT] A new report from the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) paints a gloomy picture of how US medical schools are failing to craft policies that keep the pharmaceutical industry at arm's length. The AMSA's ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Add brain cells, remove seizures Posted by Edyta Zielinska [Entry posted at 4th June 2008 05:11 PM GMT] For the first time, researchers have succeeded in reversing a condition that causes seizures in mice by transplanting progenitor cells into the brain. The finding, reported in this week's ... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this news story News: Policies stymie stem cell progress Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 4th June 2008 05:08 PM GMT] A new study confirms a seemingly obvious assumption about human embryonic stem cell research: Countries with fewer restrictions on research outperform countries with more restrictions. But the picture may be more complex than that, according to some ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Good tenure news, for a change Posted by Alison McCook [Entry posted at 3rd June 2008 09:13 PM GMT] Some of you may remember Aleister Saunders, the Alzheimer's researcher at Drexel University in Philadelphia who was kind enough to open up about the difficult process he went through to apply for tenure. (You can read his story in our ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: AIDS vaccine trial set to start Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 3rd June 2008 04:34 PM GMT] The US government is poised to start a new AIDS vaccine trial, prompting some to caution that it is too soon to initiate such studies after a Merck vaccine not only failed to show ... Click to continue View comments (6) | Comment on this news story News: Evolution loves history Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 2nd June 2008 11:23 PM GMT] In order to evolve novel traits, organisms may depend upon smaller, less dramatic mutations that they amass through their evolutionary history rather than suddenly acquiring a single mutation ... Click to continue View comments (5) | Comment on this news story News: Thyroid researcher dies Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski [Entry posted at 2nd June 2008 05:42 PM GMT] Jacob Robbins, an NIH thyroid researcher and co-discoverer of the active form of thyroid hormone, died on May 12 in Bethesda, Md, of heart failure. He was 85 years old. In the 1950s Robbins and colleague Joseph Rall, both then at Memorial ... Click to continue Comment on this news story News: Salmonella vaccine lift-off Posted by Edyta Zielinska [Entry posted at 2nd June 2008 05:14 PM GMT] A space biotech company hopes its Salmonella vaccine project will pave the way for other lucrative space biotech projects. The company, SPACEHAB, launched its proof-of-concept experiment as part of the space shuttle Discovery's payload on ... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this news story News: New journal links to genetic database Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 2nd June 2008 03:22 PM GMT] A new genomics and systems biology journal will collaborate with an international, open access database to include a section devoted to publishing genetic datasets. ... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this news story

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