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Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine and Nature Biotechnology.

April 2004

Other years: 2002 | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008

News | News in brief | News Features

News

Young biologists rejected as NIH budget squeezes training grants
Budget pressures caused by flat funding at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are beginning to take their toll on research training, grant applicants say.
Nature (29 April 2004)
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Trainee let down as allergy institute withdraws support
Bidisha Dasgupta, a fifth-year graduate student in immunology at Cornell University's Weill Medical College, was "definitely disappointed" when she heard from her mentor William Muller last Friday that their lab had had its grant request turned down.
Nature (29 April 2004)
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Cardiologists take heart from stem-cell treatment success
The prospects for using adult stem cells in medical treatments improved this week, when cardiac surgeons reported that injecting bone-marrow cells into the heart can boost its function.
Nature (29 April 2004)
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Gates grant helps Africa develop science academies
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has boosted science in Africa by making a US$20 million grant to help build independent scientific academies on the continent.
Nature (29 April 2004)
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Britain seeks compromise on animal research
Attacks on facilities, assaults on lab staff and a distinct lack of public support have combined to make animal research a significant problem for the British government.
Nature (29 April 2004)
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Victims of extremists join together to change the law
Scientists and technicians who are harassed or assaulted because of their links with animal research now have a collective voice.
Nature (29 April 2004)
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Europe overpays research expenses
Over a fifth of the expenses claimed by researchers funded under the European Commission's Fifth Framework Programme of Research (FP5) should not have been paid, according to the European Court of Auditors.
Nature (22 April 2004)
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Health department lays down the law on scientific misconduct
The US health department has issued comprehensive rules for handling scientific misconduct cases. And instead of kicking up a stink, most research organizations say that they find the regulations to their liking.
Nature (22 April 2004)
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Mouse opens door for study of autoimmune diseases
Biotechnology firm Genentech is pinning its hopes on a mouse model, in a bid to broaden the use of a billion-dollar cancer drug.
Nature (22 April 2004)
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Japanese Nobels fail to inspire interest in science
Four Nobel prizes and various initiatives to popularize science don't seem to be making much difference: a survey just released by Japan's science ministry says that the public is losing interest in science and technology.
Nature (22 April 2004)
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Side effects leave smallpox vaccine in limbo
Trials of a new version of the smallpox vaccine have been halted because of a rare side effect, raising concerns about the vaccine's suitability for widespread use.
Nature (22 April 2004)
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French government concedes defeat to researchers
Scientists gathered outside the Sorbonne last week, not to demonstrate, but to picnic and toast with champagne a victory in their three-month conflict with the government.
Nature (15 April 2004)
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Trial analysis questions use of antidepressants in children
Children taking antidepressants are unlikely to reap much benefit, according to researchers in Australia. They say instead that data from clinical trials, including some whose results helped win approval for the drugs, suggest that the treatment offers few advantages.
Nature (15 April 2004)
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Publishers go head-to-head over search tool
Will there ever be a science equivalent of Google? Two of the world's biggest science publishing and information firms seem to think that there will. They are about to compete head-to-head to create the most popular tool for searching the scientific literature.
Nature (15 April 2004)
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Six-day sacking over as researcher regains Italian job
It was no joke when Lucio Luzzatto was told on 1 April that he was being sacked as scientific director of Italy's National Cancer Institute in Genoa — even though he was reinstated by the health ministry just six days later.
Nature (15 April 2004)
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Queen flies the flag for cancer alliance at Paris bash
Queen Elizabeth II was in Paris last week to mark a century of Anglo-French accord. And as part of the celebrations she found herself rubbing shoulders with top cancer researchers from both sides of the Channel.
Nature (15 April 2004)
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Bush administration dismisses allegations of scientific bias
The White House has issued a detailed rebuttal to claims that it is distorting scientific evidence to further its political agenda.
Nature (8 April 2004)
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Web links leave abstracts going nowhere
The Digital Libraries Initiative is a major US research project into electronic archiving. But when you click to its homepage from the website of one of its sponsors, the US National Library of Medicine, you get a message that's increasingly familiar to researchers: "URL not found".
Nature (8 April 2004)
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Election promise gives hope to Spanish scientists
Researchers in Spain are optimistic that the newly elected government there will implement a bold pledge to double research spending. And they hope that it will also address problems that have fostered growing discontent on the nation's university campuses.
Nature (8 April 2004)
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High prices of supplies drain cash from poorer nations' labs
While researchers in the West bemoan budget cuts and funding constraints, their colleagues outside this wealthy enclave are struggling to pay frequently inflated prices for lab equipment and materials.
Nature (1 April 2004)
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Rebelling scientists welcome left's landslide in France
French researchers protesting against the government over deep cuts to science funding emerged strengthened after last weekend's regional elections, which saw the ruling conservatives wiped off the map by a left-wing alliance.
Nature (1 April 2004)
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Australia considers revised scheme for young researchers
Australia is seeking to revamp a training scheme for young scientists that has been irking the nation's universities.
Nature (1 April 2004)
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Founder bows out as genomic firm slashes workforce
Human Genome Sciences (HGS), a biotechnology company that epitomized the promise of genomic medicine, is laying off 200 of its 1,000 employees and parting ways with its charismatic chief executive, William Haseltine.
Nature (1 April 2004)
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Private donors breathe new life into US stem cell research
Two days after The Wall Street Journal published his 1 March column supporting stem cell research, Michigan State University researcher Jose Cibelli was still screening calls from both angry opponents and ardent supporters.
Nature Medicine (April 2004)
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Embryo research stirs up Spanish spat
Control over Spain's first public stem cell bank pitted the now-ousted conservative central government against authorities in the southern region of Andalusia, which launched the bank in January. With the election on 14 March of the Socialist Party, however, the tussle could well take a new turn.
Nature Medicine (April 2004)
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Europe-Africa partnership set to launch clinical trials
The European Union in February kicked off the operational phase of an ambitious clinical research partnership with Africa. But experts warn that the initiative's prioritization could set back the treatment of other, less noteworthy, diseases.
Nature Medicine (April 2004)
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Bittersweet breakthroughs in diabetes research
As the number of diabetes cases worldwide skyrockets, progress toward understanding the complex disease has been painstakingly slow. But promising new research on the links between obesity, the metabolic syndrome and diabetes could bring new treatments into the fray.
Nature Medicine (April 2004)
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Experts give metabolic syndrome heavy consideration
Obesity-rated illnesses are set to overtake smoking as the leading cause of death in the US, warned a recent study. As the overwhelming statistics call for urgent action, however, many scientists are questioning the clinical standards for diagnosing the disorders.
Nature Medicine (April 2004)
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Erbitux diagnostic latest adjunct to cancer therapy
ImClone's chimeric antibody Erbitux (cetuximab) finally obtained US marketing clearance as a treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer on February 12 after a long and infamous development.
Nature Biotechnology (April 2004)
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Purchase of Aton spotlights HDAC inhibitors
A new class of targeted cancer drugs has been working its way through clinical trials in relative obscurity. But histone deacetylase inhibitors bathed briefly in the glare of national publicity when Merck announced the pending purchase of biopharmaceutical firm Aton Pharma.
Nature Biotechnology (April 2004)
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News in brief

News Features

US postdocs: Young, gifted ... and broke
At the turn of the millennium, the US National Academies put the spotlight on the miserable pay and conditions experienced by most US postdocs. Things are now starting to change, but slowly.
Nature (15 April 2004)
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Information technology: In the know
In big groups and companies, it's hard to track who knows what. So how can scientists share information and prevent work being duplicated?
Nature (1 April 2004)
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Laboratory animals: The Renaissance rat
Thanks to the availability of its genome sequence, and the promise of new genetically engineered strains, the rat is restoring its reputation as researchers' favourite lab animal.
Nature (1 April 2004)
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Asia's big problem
All the world loves to mock obese Americans, but weightier issues lurk in Asia, where diabetes and heart disease run rampant. The first hurdle may be a Western measure that is blind to the expanding fat in Asians' deceptively thin bodies.
Nature Medicine (April 2004)
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