While US lawmakers and scientists clash over the cloning of human embryonic stem cells for therapy, researchers in the United Kingdom enjoy a peaceful regulatory climate, fueling speculation that US scientists may flee to freer shores. The Bush administration's delay in issuing a policy on research with material derived from human embryonic stem cells--which may have potential for healing degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and diabetes--might send some of America's best minds overseas, p

Life scientists who want to see their ideas pay off but who don't want to get bogged down in bureaucratic drudgery can take heart from a new trend in business organization. Instead of pushing scientists to hire and oversee pricey financial and legal and regulatory experts, a new breed of barebones biopharmaceutical venture capitalists invest early, when the inventors first create their companies, and recruit outside administrators to handle the management. Charles Hadley and Hal Broderson hold

Roche Diagnostics of Basil, Switzerland, and the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research have signed a pact to create a new line of tests using PCR technology. The deal between Roche and Mayo--the first of its kind for the research institute--exemplifies the surge of new interest in DNA-amplification technology, which has been around for more than a decade. "It is an area where there is an increasing commercial opportunity, as more of the genotypes of different microbes are identified

Backers of a new cluster of business incubators in St. Louis hope to make America's heartland a hotbed of new life sciences companies. Five venture capital funds are now operating in an area where risk capital was once a rarity. Three have raised more than $60 million to invest in technology and life sciences firms; two more plan to raise another $300 million. "It's astounding when you think about it-five funds trying to raise money at the same time, when our kind of money is very scarce in th

Increased scrutiny by federal drug regulators and continued mergers and acquisitions activity could curb expansion in biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, according to analysts and economists. A capacity constraint caused by a shortage of manufacturing facilities also could chill the overheated biotech market and job growth as companies exhaust their three-year funding cycles in the next few years, cautions Robert Toth, portfolio manager of the medical technology fund of EGM Capital in S