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Protest planned over South African government's hiring of AIDS dissident.

Group demands tighter ethics rules for appointments to US scientific advisory panels.

Proposed revision of data-sharing principles recognizes changing times and technologies.

New USDA pharming-test rules leave biotechs unfazed, food-protection groups unsatisfied.

Foundations | Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778  Click to view larger version (127K) His parents wanted him to be a priest, but he rejected the collar to study natural order. Swede Carl Linnaeus, a medical doctor who treated syphilis, tried to organize the world's flora and fauna. Starting with Systema Naturae in 1735, he began providing a concise survey of the 12,200 known species at the time. These works helped to standardize the consistent binomial nomenclature for species. His plant taxonom

Courtesy of Stephen Naylor, Beyond Genomics Inc. Like any good board game, proteomics requires a blend of strategy and serendipity. But while the former is about winning, the latter is about achievement, and its rules are still being made. Without such rules, it's hard to measure success, which is why nobody at a recent proteomics conference in San Diego could gauge exactly how far the field has advanced since the human genome was sequenced almost two years ago. Nevertheless, several speakers

Courtesy of Bio-Rad Laboratories  AUTOMATING DISCOVERY: Two-dimensional gel-based proteomics is traditionally derided for its technical difficulty, low-throughput, and lack of reproducibility. Instrument manufacturers have fired back with a range of automated and integrated options. Shown here is the ProteomeWorks product line. Thierry Rabilloud has been doing proteomics since long before the word proteome was even coined. For years Rabilloud, currently at the Atomic Energy Commission Re

Automating 2-D Gel Electrophoresis Courtesy of Amersham Biosciences Amersham Biosciences www.amershambiosciences.com The Ettan™ proteomics product line includes the Ettan IPGphor™ IEF system and Ettan DALT™ SDS-PAGE system, plus the standalone Ettan Spot Picker, Ettan Digester, and Ettan Spotter. Alternatively, the integrated Ettan Spot Handling Workstation performs spot picking, digestion, and MALDI spotting in an integrated unit. Applied Biosystems www.appliedbiosyst

It's a shame that most nonscientists probably would be bored silly by the fundamental unit of scientific communication: the paper describing original research. The content of such work is often anything but dull; yet even scientists have to admit that the quality of presentation can vary. That's why the standard format prevails of abstract, introduction, materials, methods, results, and discussion. This structure aims to ensure that the information will be organized in a rational and comprehe

 Click to view larger version (11K) We surveyed 340 readers to find out if they are members of professional scientific societies, and why they join. A majority of readers, 82.4%, belong to at least one society, and a remarkable 21.4% belong to four or more societies. Important reasons that a majority of scientists join professional societies include: participation in meetings and conferences (67.4%), association with fellow scientists (65.6%), and subscriptions to research journals (60.1

Presidential advisers plan new reports on stem cells and enhancements to bodies and minds.

Member states oppose new authorizations before final regulations are in place.