Report finds weaknesses in CDC supervision of select agents in US labs.

Cellular mechanics tip scales in California case involving law based on animal model data.

Court finds private school running state research is subject to freedom of information law.

Spending increase authorized, but official budget-doubling postponed.

Senate tackles DHS bill excesses, including vaccine liability and university center provision.

Proposed US misconduct survey challenged by two biomedical research groups

Photo: Getty Images Scientific swindlers, beware. Universities are policing fraud and misuse of public funds better than ever before, according to federal regulators, who point to a surge in misconduct findings during the past 18 months as evidence of successful sleuthing. Each year, 30 to 40 institutions report to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) that they have investigated claims of falsification, fabrication, or plagiarism (FF&P) in scientific research. In the past decade, about 3

Image: Anne MacNamara Researchers disheartened by the slowdown in private money for genomics projects should keep an eye on the Congressional budget, under debate now. US Government agencies are stepping up their spending on the search for genomic keys to disease. "It's a great time for genomics, as far as we're concerned," says Maria Giovanni, assistant director for microbial genomics and related technology development for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). NI

Photo: Courtesy of Anna Johnson-Winegar Two days after anthrax was discovered in a letter addressed to US Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), Anna Johnson-Winegar was testifying on the state of the nation's readiness to counter bioterrorism before the Senate Committee on Government Affairs. Her office is the Department of Defense's (DoD) focal point for chemical and biological defense. In the hot seat before the Senate that bright October day, the Pentagon scientist wasted no time trying to convince them

US health secretary sees advisory-panel critiques as pre-election partisan politics.

Artwork: Anne MacNamara When the anthrax assaults of last fall transformed bioterrorism from theoretical possibility to reality, Congress wasted little time cranking out new laws that target laboratory operations. Within weeks of the attack on the World Trade Center, the USA Patriot Act whipped through Congress and became law, adding criminal sanctions to existing "biological weapons" statutes. A scant seven months later, the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act was signed, un

Sound Science Act limits acceptable scientific evidence and allows commercial influence.