Cell signaling news
Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine and Nature Biotechnology.
May 2005
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News | News in brief | News Features
News
Ecologist's tenure hailed as triumph for academic freedom
In a closely watched test case for academic freedom, the University of California, Berkeley, has granted tenure to an outspoken ecologist.
Nature (26 May 2005)
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UK panel urges animal researchers to go public
Years of sometimes violent protests have left many British biomedical researchers afraid to talk about research involving animals, so it is with some trepidation that scientists face a call from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics to be open about what happens to animals in their labs.
Nature (26 May 2005)
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Korea's accelerating stem-cell work prompts calls for global ethical rules
A landmark paper in stem cell research — reporting the creation of 11 human embryonic stem-cell lines that are genetically matched to individual patients — has been seized on by both sides of the cloning debate, as they seek to further their respective causes.
Nature (26 May 2005)
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NIH hints at ethics rule change
Researchers who had threatened to walk away from top jobs at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) over tough ethical rules have now changed their minds, as they have been privately assured by NIH director Elias Zerhouni that they will not have to divest themselves of all their biomedical stock.
Nature (26 May 2005)
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Large genomic differences explain our little quirks
At last week's annual genome meeting in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, scientists revealed a wealth of data indicating a surprising conclusion about human diversity — much of it might be explained by large structural differences between individual genomes, not by tiny differences in individual genes.
Nature (19 May 2005)
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Ethicists urge caution over emotive power of brain scans
Last week, scientists and ethicists met in Washington DC to discuss the growing power of brain images to sway public opinion in areas such as medicine, crime and human rights.
Nature (19 May 2005)
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Special report:Taking on the cheats
Academic publishers hope that software designed to catch cheating students could soon be used to unmask academics who plagiarize other researchers' — or their own — work.
Nature (19 May 2005)
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Competition boosts bid to find human genes
E-GASP — a competition launched by bioinformaticians after meeting in Cambridge, UK — challenged 18 teams from around the world to develop better gene-prediction software for the human genome.
Nature (12 May 2005)
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Wanted: scientists to shape Europe's future research policy
Twenty people are set to become the most influential scientists in European basic research policy as they will form the governing council of the planned European Research Council (ERC) — the first pan-European research funding agency.
Nature (12 May 2005)
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Earlier stage biotechs attract partners
A spate of acquisition and early-stage deals gives new hope to biotechs.
Nature Biotechnology (May 2005)
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Cautious welcome for FDA pharmacogenomics guidance
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 22 issued the long-awaited final version of its Guidance for Industry on submission of pharmacogenomics data, giving industry a strong political signal that it is open to applications concerning therapeutic products 'personalized' to patients' genetic blueprints.
Nature Biotechnology (May 2005)
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US court case to define EST patentability
A US court case is likely to clearly define how much knowledge a patentee needs to have of how newly discovered expressed sequence tags (ESTs) work and whether the defined use meets the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requirement of specific and substantial utility.
Nature Biotechnology (May 2005)
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Academics stress licence threat to US science
Proposed changes to an obscure set of export rules that would require researchers from countries including China and India to obtain a government licence before operating a wide range of lab equipment, could derail US research, say academic and industrial groups.
Nature (05 May 2005)
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Rethink on review leaves researchers out in the cold
US researchers could increasingly find that their grant applications are rejected without even being seen by funding-agency reviewers; the National Science Foundation (NSF) is asking universities to pre-screen some types of proposal in a bid to cut down its workload.
Nature (05 May 2005)
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Free genome databases finally defeat Celera
Celera Genomics, the company that raced against the public Human Genome Project to be the first to sequence our genetic blueprint, has announced that it will stop selling genomic information.
Nature (05 May 2005)
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Scientists seek simple remedies to cloning conundrums
At a recent scientific meeting in San Diego, scientists talked of alternatives to obtaining stem cells that would eliminate the need for human eggs and embryos.
Nature Medicine (May 2005)
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US policy keeps drugs out of reach in clinical trials abroad
The US National Institutes of Health's (NIH) policies on clinical trials are holding up crucial research in developing countries, scientists say.
Nature Medicine (May 2005)
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Scientists charged with choosing publication over public health
Dutch researchers kept news of an outbreak of a re-emerging sexually transmitted disease secret in order to publish their data in a research journal, report says.
Nature Medicine (May 2005)
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Personalized medicine prompts push to redesign clinical trials
Three prominent cancer organizations are on a quest to redesign clinical trials, saying that additional testing before and during trials will highlight individual differences in drug response and detect successful targeted therapies faster.
Nature Medicine (May 2005)
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Sports law could even the score for women in science
A US law that addresses gender discrimination on campuses may create equal opportunities in science.
Nature Medicine (May 2005)
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News in brief
Grant probe leaves DNA lab without direction
| US government urged to aid foreign scientists' entry
| Bill Gates spurs disease research with $250 million
| Poor countries slip further behind in health research
| Centenary stimulates top scientists' wish-list
| Health agency logs on to beat fake drugs
| Who dares, wins a million for research
| US gives stamp of approval to scientists
| Israel tightens IP law
| Tysabri down but not out
| Report flags US pricing
| Japan investors shun biotech
| Basic PCR patents expire
| Labs rush to destroy pandemic flu samples
| European nations skimp on cancer research
| India aims to personalize medicine for the world
| Lander leads plan to sequence cancer genome
News Features
Avian flu special: Is this our best shot?
We have the means to make a vaccine against pandemic flu. But quarrels over money, science and politics mean it could come too late, says Erika Check.
Nature (26 May 2005)
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Avian flu special: What's in the medicine cabinet?
Drugs that could lessen the death toll in a flu pandemic do exist. But global stockpiles are too small, and the countries at most immediate risk are among the worst prepared. Alison Abbott reports.
Nature (26 May 2005)
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Iranian neuroscience: The brains trust of Tehran
An Islamic theocracy ravaged by economic sanctions isn't an obvious place to seek a vibrant cognitive-neuroscience research group. Yet that's what Alison Abbott found on a recent trip to Iran.
Nature (19 May 2005)
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Stem-cell niches: It's the ecology, stupid!
Stem cells are engaged in constant crosstalk with their environment, biologists are fast realizing. So the emerging field of regenerative medicine is now wrestling with the ecological concept of the niche. Kendall Powell reports.
Nature (19 May 2005)
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Gene therapy: cursed or inching towards credibility?
Can gene therapy ever live down its setbacks and live up to its initial promise? A chastened but determined group of pioneers believes it can, and they are pointing to a new generation of products to back up that claim.
Nature Biotechnology (May 2005)
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Chinese clinical trials: Consenting adults? Not necessarily...
Companies and scientists in the West are keen to test their drugs in China, which is an important future market. But those running clinical trials need to be on their guard, says David Cyranoski.
Nature (12 May 2005)
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Labs on a chip: Meet the stripped down rat
Are wafers of silicon that support cells cultured from vital organs the future of drug testing and toxicology? Roxanne Khamsi talks to the pioneers creating model animals — and humans — on a chip.
Nature (05 May 2005)
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Strong medicine
After months of controversy over antidepressants and painkillers, experts say the monitoring of drug safety is in serious jeopardy. Meredith Wadman probes remedies for what ails the system.
Nature Medicine (May 2005)
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