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Erica P. Johnson Systems biologists envision a hulking database where all biological knowledge can be stored, freely accessed, and designed to interact. From it, researchers could easily extract data to construct virtual molecular pathway models working in their respective networks and in dynamic contexts of time, space, and various environmental cues. Hypotheses could be plucked like apples from the electronic tree of knowledge, and drug targets would fall like leaves. Some want to play out

One day, genomic data will be translated into language that can be used to find new diagnostic and therapeutic targets for disease. Computers will mine DNA codes to build nanomachines, and "smart fabrics" will contain sensing capabilities modeled on living things. So says Shankar Shastry, chairman of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California at Berkeley. "Bio is my bet on where the new set of glamour technologies will be," he predicts. But even the small step

For young journalists, interviewing a scientific expert can be a queasy experience. This feeling doesn't arise directly from relative ignorance, to which the interviewer may be modestly resigned. It stems from uncertainty about how that ignorance might be perceived and tolerated. The patience of some scientists can be short, although many are receptive and responsive to the media. Those differences not only show the danger in generalizing about personalities, but also point out the real sourc

The Scientist surveyed 485 readers to find out how they keep up with the (nonscientific) news. More than 98% of readers stay abreast of current events, and more than 70% use three or more media. Most popular is television news, with 71.1% watching regularly, closely followed by news Web sites (68.8%). Daily newspapers and Sunday newspapers follow with 57.2% and 47.9%, respectively. About 2% admit to not keeping up with the news. CNN is the overwhelming favorite among the more than 70 TV channel

A week after the death of the most famous sheep in the world, we sum up reaction.

Critics say government forced into allowing more time for discussion.

Microarray researchers support data-sharing but still struggle to fund repositories.

Annual increases put health agency on track to billion-dollar budget.

Scientists broadly support idea of new pan-European research body.

Advocates declare victory: NIH budget-doubling complete and NSF biology getting its due.

Spanish National Cardiovascular Centre launched amid uncertainty over leadership.

A job in the higher reaches of academia is good training for parliamentary life, if Ian Gibson, Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich North, is to be believed. Now chair of the House of Commons select committee on science and technology, Gibson was Dean of biological sciences at the University of East Anglia until his election to parliament in 1997. Ambition, he says, and back-stabbing are common to both.Yet it is hard to escape the conviction that Gibson revels in political life. It is a