Cell signaling news
Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
March 2009
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News | News in brief | News Features
News
UK funding ban sparks protests
British scientists are campaigning against a plan to bar hundreds of unsuccessful grant applicants from making funding bids in the following year.
Nature News (26 March 2009)
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Canadian science minister under fire
Gary Goodyear, Canada's minister of science and technology, has been criticized in the media for an outburst during a meeting with a university teachers' group and for his comments on evolution.
Nature News (26 March 2009)
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More pain studies needed
The US National Research Council has called for additional studies on how to determine when a laboratory animal is in pain and how best to alleviate that pain.
Nature News (26 March 2009)
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Bills target biosimilar drugs
Two dueling bills have been introduced in the US House of Representatives that contain different regulations on when and how generic versions of biological drugs will enter the US market.
Nature News (26 March 2009)
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Society sues journal over right to reply
The Max Planck Society in Germany has begun legal proceedings against publishers Wiley International, arguing that an editorial in the February issue of Human Brain Mapping grievously misrepresents it and harms the reputation of one of its scientists.
Nature News (19 March 2009)
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Big interest in heavy drugs
Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to bet on the idea that simply switching a hydrogen atom with a heavier isotope in a currently approved drug could create a better drug.
Nature News (19 March 2009)
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Roche vows to keep Genentech culture
Roche has entered a deal to buy the 44% or so of Genentech that it doesn't already own, resulting in the full merger between the two companies.
Nature News (19 March 2009)
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Incoming chief to tackle woes of US food and drug agency
If confirmed by the US Senate, physician Margaret Hamburg will become the next head of the beleaguered US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Nature News (19 March 2009)
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Obama overturns stem-cell ban
Scientists and research advocates worldwide are celebrating the removal of rules limiting research on human embryonic stem cells in the United States, which they say have restricted the field's progress for seven and a half years.
Nature News (12 March 2009)
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Obama order deals with scientific integrity
US President Obama has drafted a memo calling for agencies to hire scientific employees based on their knowledge, and to put rules in place for scientific integrity and transparency along with protection for whistleblowers.
Nature News (12 March 2009)
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Personalized cancer therapy gets closer
Some cancer centers are preparing to screen all patients for genetic mutations associated with the disease, and researchers are starting to use this detailed information about patients' tumor genomes to decide which treatments might benefit them most.
Nature News (12 March 2009)
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Web usage data outline map of knowledge
A billion 'clickstream events' — the trails generated by web users clicking from one paper to another on journal websites — have been analyzed and provide a fascinating snapshot of the interconnections between disciplines.
Nature News (12 March 2009)
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Obama appoints first federal IT chief
US President Obama has appointed Vivek Kundra to the newly created post of chief information officer.
Nature News (12 March 2009)
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Geron gets green light for human trial of ES cell-derived product
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first human trials of embryonic stem (hES) cells for patients who have suffered a complete thoracic-level spinal cord injury.
Nature Biotechnology News (March 2009)
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Report blames NICE for hastening decline of UK biotech
A British government-sponsored report singles out the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as one of the main factors holding back biotech companies and their products.
Nature Biotechnology News (March 2009)
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US stem cell climate improves, raising concerns elsewhere
The world's first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells has received approval in the US, leaving experts in other countries to ponder whether an improved climate for such research within the US will force them to compete more fiercely to retain top sc.
Nature Medicine News (March 2009)
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Independent working group puts genetic tests under the microscope
An independent working group established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has concluded that more research is needed to know whether genetic tests can reliably guide medical treatment.
Nature Medicine News (March 2009)
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Pfizer to disclose financial ties
Following similar initiatives from drug companies such as Eli Lilly, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced that it will publicly disclose its compensation of US clinical investigators.
Nature Medicine News (March 2009)
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Royal Society urges integration of human and veterinary medicine
The UK Royal Society published a policy statement recommending the creation of a National Institute of Infectious Diseases that would link scientists who research human infectious diseases with those who study such diseases in animals.
Nature Medicine News (March 2009)
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English university funding unveiled
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will allocate almost £8 billion in government funding for research and teaching for the 2009-10 academic year.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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Something wiki this way comes
Stephen Friend and Eric Schadt hope to lay the foundations for a non-profit, open-access and comprehensive database that scientists can use to develop more predictive models of disease.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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Public universities left reeling by recession
Slumping state revenues are putting US public universities under pressure.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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Budget numbers for US science looking up
A proposed US$3.6-trillion budget for fiscal year 2010 underscores the Obama administration's stated priorities in health care, energy and education, and outlines big increases for most US science agencies.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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Virus-free pluripotency for human cells
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been created using a piggyBac transposon to deliver the four transcription factors (Klf4, c-Myc, Oct4 and Sox2) that are required to reprogram somatic cells to a pluripotent state.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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Biomarker debate highlights retrospective challenge
Divisions in clinical and regulatory opinions about treatment decisions based on retrospective analyses that link gene mutations to drug response have implications for companies developing molecularly targeted drugs and companion diagnostics.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (March 2009)
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Synta and Roche collaborate on anti-inflammatory ion channel modulators
Synta has signed a deal with Roche to develop and commercialize their oral small-molecule inhibitors of calcium-release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (March 2009)
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News in brief
| Funder moves to quell Turkish censorship row
| US medical institute to set up African research centre
| US panel to guide treatment comparison
| Science head of energy department is named
| NIH research to become permanently open access
| Hospital investigation reveals long-running fraud
| Merck strengthens drug pipeline in rival takeover
| Drug maker found liable despite FDA warning label
| Alnylam dealt blow
| China overhauls patent law
| Norway's swift bail out
| Korean egg-donor lawsuit thrown out of court
| Ranbaxy censured by FDA over falsified data
| Obama has second go at choosing US health chief
| First FDA-approved embryonic stem cell trial
| FDA approves first transgenically produced drug
| Potential blockbuster anticoagulant recommended for approval
| Speculative patent for COPD drug invalidated
| Fibroblast growth factors
News Features
Science journalism: Supplanting the old media?
Science journalism is in decline, whereas science blogging is growing fast — but can the one replace the other?
Nature News (19 March 2009)
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Clinical epidemiology: Archived answers
The switch to electronic medical records could open up a potential wealth of data for researchers.
Nature News (19 March 2009)
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Circadian rhythms: Of owls, larks and alarm clocks
Researchers now are working to understand the links between circadian-rhythm problems and psychiatric disorders, metabolic syndrome and a range of other illnesses.
Nature News (12 March 2009)
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Straight talk with...Mac Cowell and Jason Bobe
Nature Medicine talks to Mac Cowell and Jason Bobe, the co-founders of DIYBio — a fledgling organization aimed at providing amateur biologists with a common framework for striking out on their own.
Nature Medicine News (March 2009)
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Profile: Being Bob Langer
Nature News profiles a day in the life of Robert S. Langer, Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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Neuroscience: Rethinking rehab
Alcoholics Anonymous-type group behavioral therapy may tap into brain regions that neuroscientists think are crucial in overcoming addiction.
Nature News (5 March 2009)
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