September 2005

Re: "Wanted: Scientific Heroes."1 If you consider the way Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan, not to mention Linus Pauling and Rachel Carson, were trashed by scientists, the scientific establishment, and the science academies when they stepped into the public domain as "scientific heroes" it is not at all surprising why there are no scientific heroes.It's distressing to see that scientists do not fare well in the public's ranking of the greatest Americans.1 Some deceased scientists are remarkable role

Re: "Plant Neurobiology Sprouts Anew."1 Your readers should know that E.J. Lund and colleagues in the Department of Biophysics at Austin, Texas, published a book entitled Bioelectric Fields and Growth University of Texas Press) in 1947. Also, while Tompkins and Bird's The Secret Life of Plants (Harper & Row, 1973) did sell well and influence the thinking of the lay public, its message was effectively debunked by a subsequent article entitled "The not-so-secret life of plants."2 This article

it occurred to me that there is a recognized disease that seems to parallel the fears of nanoparticle absorption through the skin.

Regarding "A Ban on Estrogenics?"1 we must be wary also about a possible cancer risk from long-term exposure to bisphenol A (BP-A) and other estrogenic endocrine disruptors as well. Steroidal/non-steroidal and postmenopausal estrogens and diethylstilbestrol (DES) as examples at low doses are long-known human carcinogens.2 In 1980, the National Toxicology Program in public session reported on the carcinogenicity of BP-A.3 With renewed emphasis on endocrine disruptors,4 we decided our bioassay fin

On the phone, John Ioannidis comes across much more cheerfully than you might expect from a man who has made a career out of pointing out the more questionable aspects of others' research endeavors.

The Dalai Lama is known for supporting peace, as his 1989 Nobel Peace Prize attests.

What is 30 times brighter than fluorescent markers, impervious to photobleaching, and won't leach heavy metals and other toxins into biological samples?

Most gas sensors, such as the carbon monoxide detectors found in many homes, monitor for the presence of a single volatile compound.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently launched a formal investigation into possible insider trading at the Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology firm Biogen Idec.

Before 2001, the company now known as Biovitrum was a group of workers with roots in Pharmacia Corp.'s Swedish research division, which was deemed redundant after Pharmacia merged with Upjohn in 1995.

Not too long ago, filing a new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration could mean sending four 48-foot trucks stuffed with 100,000 pages of documentation off to the agency's headquarters in Rockville, Md.

After two pipe bombs damaged their buildings in 2003, and after employees had been repeatedly harassed at their homes by animal rights activists wielding bullhorns and sirens, Chiron Corp. decided enough was enough.

It's been a good year for salaries in the life sciences: Median salaries have gone up by 3.8% since last year, surpassing the consumer price index rise of 3.2% from July 2004.

salary survey shows that women are coming up short in terms of compensation.