So They Say

"I remember thinking, 'Should I put in the word "emergency"?"

--World Health Organization spokesperson Dick Thompson, recalling the first press release he wrote on a new illness in Asia, which he named SARS. From the National Association of Science Writers newsletter.

"There are some samples I won't give."

--J. Craig Venter, who gave the sample DNA for the human genome sequence, quashing rumors that he provided the human waste samples for a human gut genomics study. From The Scientist.

"The plot thickens a bit now."

--Molecular archaeologist Tom Loy, on finding blood of four people with the mummified remains of an iceman from the Italian Alps, indicating he died in battle. From Reuters.

"The good thing is that it's not a pathogen."

--University of Massachusetts biologist Kazem Kashefi, discussing a new thermophile microbe that can survive at 121°C, which is higher than temperatures used in most...

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