Cell signaling news
Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
January 2009
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News | News in brief | News Features
News
Stem cells ready for prime time
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have agreed to a phase I safety study of a stem-cell-derived therapy for spinal-cord injury.
Nature News (29 January 2009)
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Pfizer to buy Wyeth in $68-billion deal
Pfizer, one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, has announced that it intends to acquire Wyeth, a company with a strong reputation in biologics and vaccines.
Nature News (29 January 2009)
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Science adviser should show his independence, says report
A report by a UK House of Commons committee criticized John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser, for "defending government policy" when he should "champion evidence-based science within government".
Nature News (29 January 2009)
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China targets top talent from overseas
China has announced a nationwide plan that promises top salaries and attractive funding to elite researchers who are working overseas and willing to return to the country.
Nature News (29 January 2009)
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Cash boost for US science
The proposed US$825-billion economic stimulus bill includes $13 billion for funding grants, new research facilities and renewable-energy technologies.
Nature News (22 January 2009)
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Translational research in Berlin hits a roadblock
Clinical researchers at the private Helios hospital in the Berlin suburb of Buch are struggling to rebuild collaborations with basic scientists following unproven accusations of funding mismanagement.
Nature News (22 January 2009)
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A fly by any other name
A proposal pending before the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) would bring a new taxonomic order to the more than 2,000 species now grouped in the genus Drosophila.
Nature News (20 January 2009)
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On the record
Nature has compiled historical sound bites from Barack Obama's nominees for top federal positions, cataloging their past positions on issues from energy security to the role of science.
Nature News (15 January 2009)
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Science tipped to score in Obama cash stimulus
The US research community stands to gain billions of dollars in funding, as Democratic leaders in Washington DC seek to lay the foundation for a greener, more competitive economy in a $750-billion stimulus package.
Nature News (15 January 2009)
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Synthetic genetic 'clock' made in lab
A synthetic genetic cellular oscillator has been made that expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) in mammalian cells in a cyclic manner.
Nature News (15 January 2009)
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Biotech sector ponders potential 'bloodbath'
A large proportion of small public biotech companies now find themselves at serious risk of going out of business, with not enough cash to see them through the next 12 months and negligible prospects of refinancing.
Nature Biotechnology News (January 2009)
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Plant genomics land big prizes
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded nearly $60 million to 20 projects focused on gene function in economically important plants.
Nature Biotechnology News (January 2009)
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Buzz around Campath proof-of-concept trial in MS
The chronic lymphocytic leukemia drug Campath, a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets the cell surface glycoprotein CD52, has shown promise for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Nature Biotechnology News (January 2009)
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JAMA study casts cloud over biologic safety
The first study to take an in-depth look at safety issues surrounding biologics and monoclonal antibodies has found that 24% of the biologic drugs approved in the US and Europe have prompted safety-related regulatory actions.
Nature Biotechnology News (January 2009)
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Challenges anticipated in removal of stem cell restrictions
Restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research in the US are expected to ease under the Obama administration.
Nature Medicine News (January 2009)
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Religious leaders weigh in on current and future embryo research
The UK nonprofit Progress Educational Trust organized a one-day conference to provide a venue for representatives of all the major world religions, as well as several scientists, to discuss the ethics of embryo research.
Nature Medicine News (January 2009)
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HPV researchers set sights on preventing skin cancers
A treatment is under development that aims to prevent and cure squamous cell carcinomas by stimulating T cells to attack skin cells that have turned cancerous or that are infected with human papilloma virus (HPV).
Nature Medicine News (January 2009)
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Report details scientific self-censoring
A recent study suggests that political controversy may exert a 'chilling effect' on scientific research.
Nature Medicine News (January 2009)
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Biotechs feel the pain
The biotech sector has fared relatively well in the financial storm, but many companies are cutting payrolls and shelving projects in an attempt to conserve cash.
Nature News (8 January 2009)
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Scientists edge closer to creating life
Scientists have taken a major step towards synthesizing life in a test tube using purely chemical ingredients.
Nature News (8 January 2009)
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Regulatory watch: FDA PDUFA goals missed
Understaffing problems at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and renewed concerns over drug safety may affect how quickly the agency can review and act on new submissions.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (January 2009)
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Trial watch: Protease inhibitors show promise against HCV
A class of drugs that targets the NS3/4 viral protease has shown promise for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (January 2009)
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News in brief
| Obama swiftly reverses Bush orders
| Europe's research activity lags behind its competitors'
| US agencies under scrutiny over high-risk programmes
| FDA to regulate the use of transgenic animals
| Polio eradication battle is bolstered by $630 million
| Genome deal seeks to accelerate pore sequencing
| Obama urged to make exports and visas a priority
| Suspended urologist set to return to Austrian university
| Italian universities lose freedom to appoint staff
| EU tightens animal rules
| Pfizer's $100 million stem cell stake
| UK revises visa rules to help visiting scientists
| Nigeria finally appoints its health ministers
News Features
Neuroscience: Making connections
Jeff Lichtman, a molecular and cellular biologist at Harvard University, aims to create a 'connectome', or a complete map of neural wiring in the mammalian brain.
Nature News (29 January 2009)
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Bush's legacy: 43 by the numbers
In the eight years since he became the United States' 43rd president, George W. Bush has supported major increases in portions of the federal research budget, but he has also attracted serious criticism for some environmental policies and the degree to which policy decisions in his administration have been informed — or not — by the best available science. Nature examines what history is likely to judge as high and low points of the Bush administration's scientific legacy.
Nature News (15 January 2009)
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Mended armor
As scientists begin to catalog the genetic changes that predispose people to specific illnesses, they are also exploring how to prevent sickness by replacing the missing parts of the immune system's defensive armor.
Nature Medicine News (January 2009)
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News feature: 2008 in reflection
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery highlights some of the key events and trends in the biopharma industry during 2008.
Nature Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (January 2009)
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