After director-general?s unexpected death, the UN health agency may hasten search for a replacement

Over the past few weeks, the leadership of the University of Sussex, in England, has faced a barrage of criticism from scientists, media and linkurl:politicians;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23404/ over plans to linkurl:reshape its chemistry department;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23404/ in favor of biological chemistry. The planned restructuring, widely seen as the brainchild of vice chancellor Alasdair Smith, was denigrated by a Nobel Laureate, protested against by st

After anticipated report falls short, UK school with threatened chemistry department may still agree to increase funding and staffing levels

Scientists urge the government to act on recommendations to allow somatic cell nuclear transfer

Credit: COURTESY OF CHRISTELLE BARBEY/SILOGIC" /> Credit: COURTESY OF CHRISTELLE BARBEY/SILOGIC From a satellite orbiting 500 miles above the earth, the jungles of central Africa can look disarmingly innocent. To the untrained eye, their wrinkled swathes of green offer no hint of the potentially lethal infectious diseases lurking within. But for the past two years, African epidemiologists studying images from earth observation satellites have found that for those who know how to look, tho

British researchers hope the new Human Tissue Authority won't hinder vital research

In the UK, the battle for people's hearts and minds over animal research continues apace. For a long time, opponents of animal research dominated the news but linkurl:these days;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23166/, the tables seem to have turned. The latest thrust came yesterday when the Coalition for Medical Progress launched an linkurl:online petition;http://www.thepeoplespetition.com/signup/ for those who see experiments on animals as being essential. As I write, after midnight

An EU report has urged funders to guarantee open access to research, but there's still no RCUK policy in sight

Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, is a small city with roughly 200,000 residents. After Windhoek in linkurl:Namibia;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23270/, where I was yesterday, it seems a little rough around the edges. I'm in town as part of a 10 day linkurl:trip to Africa;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23265/ on behalf of The Scientist to talk to researchers about the linkurl:state of science;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23266/ on the continent. The city ma

British scientists are expected to reveal today (Thursday) whether a dead swan found on the Scottish coast was infected with H5N1 avian influenza, Scottish authorities said last night. linkurl:Preliminary tests;http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/04/05231331 on the swan showed that it was infected with highly pathogenic H5 avian flu, but the exact strain is not yet known. With infected birds having turned up elsewhere in Europe, the UK has been anticipating the possible arrival of th

I arrived in Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, this morning, as part of a 10 day linkurl:trip to Africa;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23265/ on behalf of The Scientist to talk to researchers about the state of science on the continent. In no time, I was being whisked over to the linkurl:University of Namibia;http://www.unam.na/ by molecular biologist Kazhila Chinsembu. Chinsembu is originally from Zambia but has been at the University of Namibia for four years. As we drove t

Today was the first day of a 10 day trip to Africa on behalf of The Scientist to talk to researchers about the linkurl:state of science;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22793/ on the continent. On my inaugural stop, I visited John Mugabe, director of the science and technology council of the linkurl:New Economic Partnership for African Development;http://www.nepad.org/ (NEPAD), whose office is in a research campus on the edge of Pretoria, South Africa. Mugabe is not a vociferous man