Fewer foreign life scientists are reporting delays in obtaining visas for US visits, and the delays that do occur are getting shorter. But delays persist, and while statistics or confirmed reports are hard to come by, many in the field fear that difficulties in obtaining a visa, perceived or real, are discouraging scientists from even trying to visit this country."Even in the absence of any first-hand evidence, I am quite sure that the difficulties in getting visas (especially in time for an event) to visit UK/Europe and the USA put off many scientists," Mohammed Sohail, a senior research associate in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, said via-E-mail. Sohail is organizing an upcoming UK conference on gene silencing by RNA interference."I think we're all quite confident that this is an extremely widespread problem," said Victor C. Johnson, associate executive director for public policy at NAFSA: Association...

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