Cell signaling news
Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine and Nature Biotechnology.
October 2004
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News | News in brief | News Features
News
Science shares the limelight as election battle enters final phase
As the election battle enters its final phase, both US presidential candidates concentrate on key research issues, such as the shortage of flu vaccines.
Nature (28 October 2004)
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Ultrasound scans accused of disrupting brain development
The effect of ultrasound scans on brain development is to be investigated in a study on monkeys starting next month, as recent unpublished research showed that ultrasound can disrupt the normal movement of brain cells in mice.
Nature (28 October 2004)
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Geneticists struggle towards consensus on place for 'race'
Leading geneticists will look at the importance of ethnicity in medical research, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Toronto, Canada, this week.
Nature (28 October 2004)
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Spain's budget fails basic science, researchers charge
Spanish researchers have lashed out at their new socialist government, accusing it of breaking pre-election pledges on science funding.
Nature (28 October 2004)
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Generic drugs allowed in global trial of AIDS therapy
Patients taking generic drugs will be permitted to participate in a worldwide trial that aims to find the best way to treat AIDS using antiretroviral medicines.
Nature (28 October 2004)
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Novartis goes public with DNA data in bid to tackle diabetes
The Broad Institute and Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, announced that they have pooled resources to hunt for genes linked to adult-onset diabetes, and that the results are to be deposited on the Internet as they are generated, where they will be freely available.
Nature (28 October 2004)
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Biologists seek consensus on guidelines for stem-cell research
Prominent biologists held a meeting at the US National Academies, in an attempt to frame some ethical guidelines for research on human embryonic stem cells, and the use of chimeras.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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Early success claimed for Zerhouni's NIH roadmap
Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced that a plan to transform key areas of biomedical research in the United States is bang on schedule.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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Russians fear privatization of state labs
Senior officials in Moscow are attempting to reassure Russian scientists about details of a planned reform, under which many hundreds of the country's state research institutes could lose their government funding.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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French delegation strengthens bond with China
Chirac helped to secure billions of dollars' worth of industrial contracts for France at the same time as signing framework agreements, including ones for the promotion of health and medical science.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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Schwarzenegger endorses stem-cell push
After months of silence, California's Republican governor lent his backing on Monday to the state's ballot initiative to fund embryonic stem-cell research.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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Germany's junior professors fight for their rights
The fight of junior professors in Germany to reinstate their title, restore equal status, and improve career prospects continues.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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Universities fear repercussions as NIH tunes conflicts policy
Universities around the United States fear the repercussions that a congressional investigation into conflict-of-interest policies at the National Institutes of Health might have on their medical research centres.
Nature (14 October 2004)
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US lacks back-up for flu vaccine shortfall
Public-health officials in the United States were left scrambling for alternative sources of influenza vaccine last week, after the surprise announcement that half the country's supply for this winter had been shelved.
Nature (14 October 2004)
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Canada to join 'big league' with its own science academy
The Canadian government is to mandate the creation of the long-awaited Canadian Academies of Science.
Nature (14 October 2004)
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Chemistry Nobel for trio who revealed molecular death-tag
Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose scoop this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry for unraveling the mechanism that marks proteins for degradation.
Nature (14 October 2004)
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'Memory of water' biologist dies after heart surgery
Jacques Benveniste, the French immunologist who claimed that water has a 'memory' — a putative explanation for homeopathic medicine — died on 3 October in Paris after heart surgery.
Nature (14 October 2004)
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US universities up in arms over licence plans for foreign staff
Scientists and students from countries such as China and India may soon be required to obtain special licences before they can operate laboratory equipment in the US universities where they work.
Nature (7 October 2004)
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Science of smell wins medicine Nobel
Richard Axel and Linda Buck won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this week for their seminal work on olfaction — the sensory system concerned with smell.
Nature (7 October 2004)
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Colourful work on quarks scoops triple crown
This year's Nobel prize in Physics has been awarded for work on 'colour interaction': the poetic way in which physicists refer to the strong nuclear force, which binds together the fundamental particles called quarks.
Nature (7 October 2004)
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Harvard ceremony graced by hula-hooping laureates
This year's fourteenth Ig Nobel Prize ceremony clashed with the first debate of the US presidential election campaign. But there was no evidence of regret inside the packed auditorium at Harvard University, Massachusetts.
Nature (7 October 2004)
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Sweet smell of success
The Nobel Prize committee has now honoured neuroscientists Richard Axel and Linda Buck to share this year's US$1.4-million Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in the understanding of olfaction.
news@nature (4 October 2004)
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Electoral campaign delays resolution of biotech issues
Except for debates over ES cells, biotech has not been at the heart of the US presidential election campaigns.
Nature Biotechnology (October 2004)
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Growing pains in AIDS drug development
Responding to pressure groups, the Cambodian government halted an important clinical trial scheduled to start in September, to test whether the Gilead AIDS medicine, tenofovir (Viread), approved to fight HIV infection, might also prevent the transmission of HIV.
Nature Biotechnology (October 2004)
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Inhaled insulin products puff along
The inhaled insulin product front-runner, developed by Nektar Therapeutics, performed well in a two-year safety study to assess potential damage to patients' lungs from long-term use.
Nature Biotechnology (October 2004)
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China moves to reform biotech policies
China is going to reform how public money from different government ministries is allocated to the biotech industry through the creation of a top-level biotech leadership committee.
Nature Biotechnology (October 2004)
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Genentech discloses safety concerns over Avastin
Colon cancer drug increases risk of embolisms, giving a warning to other companies that similar drugs targeting the endothelium may raise safety concerns when used in combination therapy.
Nature Biotechnology (October 2004)
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Biologists launch 'open-source movement'
An initiative is being established this week with a US$1-million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, to make research tools more readily available to biologists who could not otherwise afford them.
Nature (30 September 2004)
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Monkey virus may be cleared of cancer link
Laboratory contamination could have lent unwarranted support to the contentious idea that a monkey virus causes certain types of cancer, according to a study published last week.
Nature (30 September 2004)
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NIH researchers face blanket consulting ban
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced plans to ban its scientists from carrying out any paid consultancy work for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for 12 months.
Nature (30 September 2004)
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Therapeutic cloning gives silenced genes a second voice
Cloning might reverse the epigenetic changes that cause cancer and other diseases.
Nature Medicine (October 2004)
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US panel recommends 'black box' warnings for antidepressants
Advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration have asked the agency to add tough warnings to antidepressant medications, saying the drugs cause some children to become suicidal.
Nature Medicine (October 2004)
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Scientists stumped by dual push for open access, secrecy
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is increasingly moving to adopt schemes that promote open access to scientific information. Most scientists favor the plans, but the push is adding confusion over how to balance openness with simultaneously rising security concerns about biodefense research.
Nature Medicine (October 2004)
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Ethical quagmire awaits vaccine for cocaine addiction
Treating cocaine addiction has proven a slow and thorny task for scientists. The best bet, a vaccine, is years away, but it has already raised several ethical questions.
Nature Medicine (October 2004)
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Inflamed brains can trigger the blues, studies suggest
The same chemicals that can induce the body to fight infection can also sicken the brain: a growing body of evidence suggests that inflammation may be linked to depression.
Nature Medicine (October 2004)
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News in brief
Schering stocks up with stem cells in Japan
| Germany adds its plank to the open-access platform
| Malaria trial boosts hopes for a vaccine
| Election puts agencies into funding doldrums
| Kenyan vet garners Nobel for founding Green Belt Movement
| Salty diet provides square meal for shapely bacteria
| Gene variation centre is a snip at $14 million
| Maurice Wilkins, DNA's third man, dies at 87
| Cow sheds secrets as genome is unveiled
| OZ gene patent reform
| Picture festival aims to give biotech better image
| Singapore cloning bill
| First ZFP enters clinic
| Drug costs scrutinized
| France gives research a billion-euro boost
| Science committee chairman has heart op
| Russian Nobel laureate left out in the cold
| US set to fight fat
| Big push for US nanotech cancer plan
| Cloning claims kill article
News Features
A shot in the arm
Antibiotics are failing and drug companies have all but stopped developing new ones. Will conquered diseases come back to haunt us? Martin Leeb examines one plan to avert the crisis.
Nature (21 October 2004)
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Synthetic biology: Starting from scratch
Genetic engineering is old hat. Biologists are now synthesizing genomes, altering the genetic code and contemplating new life forms. Is it time to think about the risks? Philip Ball asks the experts.
Nature (7 October 2004)
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A taste of the future
Flavor-enhancing molecules provide a fast track to market and to an IPO, at least for Senomyx, the first 'flavor' biotech out of the block. Will others follow? Cormac Sheridan investigates.
Nature Biotechnology (October 2004)
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A dangerous elixir?
Testosterone therapy jacks up vigour, sex drive and mental acuity — or so proponents claim. But are those who experiment with this potent sex hormone gambling with their health?
Nature (30 September 2004)
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