Erica P. Johnson
By many measures, 2004 was a tumultuous and high-profile year for science around the world. The US Congress, faced with an increasingly expensive war in Iraq and the biggest deficit in history, limited science-budget increases and cut funding to the National Science Foundation. In Europe, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Switzerland passed legislation specifically supporting stem cell research, but German scientists were still limited to using first-generation stem cell lines created before Jan. 1, 2002.
In South Korea, a team created a human embryonic stem cell line from a cloned human embryo, further roiling international debate about cloning. But one of the biggest stories of the year in Asia was China, where burgeoning economic growth helped fuel a continued sharp climb in science spending, and Chinese scientists both inside and outside the country worked to reform government science funding.
Around the world, 2004 saw new regulations, ...
