"I guess it must be two o'clock." NSF's Eve Barak was standing at a podium looking out at a large room that was only about one-fifth full. It was day 3 (December 3) of the American Society for Cell Biology's annual meeting, and Barak was here to outline what biologists need to do to receive an NSF grant. During the session (during which more scientists trickled in, making the room half-full), Barak, who has spent the last 20 years helping review biology grant applications

The $1 billion linkurl:life sciences initiative;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53359/ posed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is dealing with some scrutiny lately. The new president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council faces a state ethics investigation about his transition from the public to the private sector, and has declined to publicly discuss the bill. Massachusetts Biotechnology Council President Robert Coughlin has announced he will not publicly discuss the bill,

This morning, a group of panelists issued a call to action to a standing-room-only crowd at the American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting: Scientists must get involved in policy issues, and they have to start now. The session - which included scientists, a congressional staffer, and other advocates - focused on linkurl:how scientists can become involved;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/53611/ in advocating for federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research. It&

var FO = { movie:"http://images.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/53927/organ.swf", width:"550", height:"500", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"true"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Engineering an organ By Alison McCook How Tengion builds autologous bladders Please download the Adobe Flash Player to view this content: Related Articles Betting on better organs What it takes to make an organ

Betting on Better Organs © 3D4medical.com Will you soon be able to buy your own bladder? By Alison McCook Related Articles 1 Patients are left with less tissue to function as intestine, which can complicate things even further. Some studies have also linked the procedure to a slightly higher risk of cancer. Performing this procedure in older adults, who have relatively fewer years left to develop complications, is one thing. But what

What it takes to make an organ By Alison McCook Related Articles Betting on better organs Engineering an organ Two years ago, the first employees of Tengion walked into a 2,800 square meter warehouse in southeastern Pennsylvania that was full to the brim with office furniture, rising up to a 12-meter ceiling, and said: We'll take it. They cleared everything out and started to fill the empty space with rooms and equipment to automate something that had

This week, Planktos, a nanotech company with the lofty goal of reducing carbon emissions, finally set sail. Planktos aims to reduce carbon emissions by releasing huge amounts of iron into the ocean, with the hope that plankton will take up that iron, and absorb more carbon. According to the New York Times, Planktos' 115-foot ship, the WeatherBird II, linkurl:launched from Florida;http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/project-to-harness-plankton-puts-to-sea/index.html on Sunday (Novem

An expert in genetics law creates a world in which molecular biology solves crimes

New Jersey voters nixed Governor Jon Corzine's proposal to borrow $450 million over 10 years to fund linkurl:stem cell research;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53836/ yesterday (November 6). Voters defeated the measure by a 53-47 margin. Corzine introduced the proposal in July, and supporters argued it would serve as an economic boon to the state. California, New York, and Massachusetts have already devoted extensive funds to stem cell research. According to the New York Times, t

In case you missed it, Saturday (Nov 3) marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Wilhelm Reich, who passed away in federal prison. He was serving out a two year sentence for ignoring an injunction obtained by the Food and Drug Administration that outlawed his device that accumulated "orgone energy," which he described as a "universal life energy." (Saturday was also the 50th anniversary of the day when the linkurl:first living being;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika entered o

A New Jersey court has ruled that an animal rights group cannot file a civil lawsuit against Huntingdon Life Sciences, a contract research organization in the U.S. and U.K. that has linkurl:long been the target;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15730/ of militant animal rights group. Wednesday (Oct 31) a three-judge panel in the Appellate Division threw out a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals charging Huntingdon with animal cruelty and n

Last night (Nov 1), Princeton president linkurl:Shirley Tilghman;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15410/ elicited an audible response from an audience at the Chemical Heritage Foundation when she announced that the average age at which investigators receive their first NIH grant has climbed to 42.9 years. We all duly murmured astonishingly, as she called this the "LaGuardia effect" -- as in, scientists are spending more time circling in the air before they can land. (This got