Cell signaling news
Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
May 2009
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News | News in brief | News Features
News
Marmoset model takes centre stage
A report describing the passing of a transgene from a transgenic marmoset to its offspring could usher in a new era of primates as human-disease models.
Nature News (28 May 2009)
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Sunny outlook for Australian science
The proposed Australian budget will raise research and education expenditure by almost 25% over the previous year's spending.
Nature News (21 May 2009)
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Public donations to lift research
A Florida researcher has launched the 'SciFlies' project designed to solicit public donations for individual research programs and to inspire public interest in science and engineering.
Nature News (21 May 2009)
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Research from rubble
Six weeks after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake damaged the University of L'Aquila, Italy, students and researchers are returning to their studies in tents or buildings loaned by other towns.
Nature News (21 May 2009)
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Alzheimer's theory makes a splash
The
The Alzheimer's research community is buzzing about a theory suggesting that the amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage product N-APP — and not the more familiar β-amyloid cleavage product — may be a major culprit in the disease.
Nature News (21 May 2009)
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Why people with Down's syndrome get fewer cancers
Individuals with Down's syndrome possess an extra copy of the Dscr1 gene (also known as Rcan1), and higher expression of Dscr1 suppresses angiogenesis in mouse models of some cancers.
Nature News (20 May 2009)
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Flush with new funds, NIH faces challenges of distribution
The US biomedical research community is ramping up in anticipation of the disbursement of $10.4 billion granted to the National Institutes of Health in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Nature Medicine News (May 2009)
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Studies comparing treatment options receive a boost
The US National Institutes of Health will spend $400 million in the next two years to support research on the comparative effectiveness of treatment options for a range of diseases.
Nature Medicine News (May 2009)
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Battle lines drawn as US moves toward generic biologics
A bipartisan group of US senators introduced a bill that would open the US market to generic versions of biologic drugs, which have until now been the all-but-exclusive province of brand-name makers.
Nature Medicine News (May 2009)
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Regulators confront blind spots in research oversight
Investigators of scientific misconduct have had their hands full in recent months following the discovery of a suspected longstanding case of research fraud, a report of widespread plagiarism in peer-reviewed journals and questions about the consistency of institutional and independent review boards (IRBs).
Nature Medicine News (May 2009)
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Amidst scientific unrest, France mulls an institutional alliance
The French government has announced a new alliance among several major scientific institutes as part of its proposed strategy to overhaul the country's current national research system.
Nature Medicine News (May 2009)
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Vaccine decisions loom for new flu strain
Faced with the prospect of an influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) is weighing up its options for advising manufacturers and governments on developing vaccines.
Nature News (14 May 2009)
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Stem-cell therapy faces more scrutiny in China
The Chinese Ministry of Health has implemented regulations on the application of therapies such as stem-cell injections, in an effort to curtail a growing trade in unproven treatments that could risk patients' health and damage the reputation of stem-cell research.
Nature News (14 May 2009)
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Exome sequencing takes centre stage in cancer profiling
Major cancer-genome screening projects such as the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) have decided to sequence just the 'exome' — all the exons in the genome — in tumor and matched normal samples.
Nature News (14 May 2009)
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RNA world easier to make
Researchers have created cytosine and uracil from simple chemicals under conditions that might have existed on the early Earth.
Nature News (14 May 2009)
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How thalidomide makes its mark
The ability of thalidomide to block the development of new blood vessels may be behind the deformed limbs of children born to women who took the drug early in pregnancy.
Nature News (11 May 2009)
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Healthcare reform looms, firms seek scraps from US stimulus
A close look at the US budget provides some insight into the new administration's biotech policies, from healthcare reform and comparative effectiveness to the introduction of biogenerics and support for clean energy.
Nature Biotechnology News (May 2009)
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Corporate venture funds chase early-stage deals
As the continuing financial doldrums temper the appetite of traditional private equity venture capital (VC) for startups, investment funds set up by big pharma companies are beginning to dominate early-stage financing of biotech firms.
Nature Biotechnology News (May 2009)
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How severe will the flu outbreak be?
Public-health bodies and scientists have made progress in starting to understand the outbreak of the H1N1 swine-associated flu virus, but major questions remain about how severe the disease will get.
Nature News (7 May 2009)
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The turbulent history of the A(H1N1) virus
Genetic analyses of the A(H1N1) strain of swine influenza indicate that it is a mixture of at least two flu viruses that circulated separately through pigs in North America and Eurasia for 10–20 years, before mixing and jumping to humans.
Nature News (7 May 2009)
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Even big societies feel the pinch
In response to declining revenues and falling investment values, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has been forced to lay off 3% of its employees, freeze new employment indefinitely, cap contributions to medical insurance for retired employees and cut back on other expenses such as travel.
Nature News (7 May 2009)
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Neuroscientists claim growing pains
Leading neuroscientists warn that variation between batches of growth medium designed to sustain neurons in culture can, in their experience, cause experiments to fail or give low-quality results because of the poor survival and maturation of cells.
Nature News (7 May 2009)
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UK scientists get funding ban reprieve
After a campaign by scientists, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has softened and delayed its controversial policy to bar serially unsuccessful grant applicants from making funding bids for one year.
Nature News (7 May 2009)
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DNA twisted into boxes
A multidisciplinary team of researchers has created tiny DNA strongboxes that can be unlocked with a gene 'key' — the boxes could potentially be used as drug-delivery vehicles or sensors.
Nature News (6 May 2009)
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University fined after researcher's death
Following the death of a chemistry researcher in a lab fire, the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) has been hit with a fine of nearly US$32,000 for multiple safety violations.
Nature News (6 May 2009)
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Deal watch: NR2B antagonist pursued for treatment-resistant depression
Roche has entered into an agreement with Evotec to fund the Phase II clinical development of a selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, EVT 101, for patients with treatment-resistant depression.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery News (May 2009)
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Basic researchers protest UK budget
Britain's government has unveiled an economic stimulus package designed to harness what it calls a "world-class science base" — at the same time as it cuts funds for undirected basic research.
Nature News (30 April 2009)
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Obama says more money
US President Barack Obama has indicated that he wants the country's research and development budget to rise to 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which would be an increase of roughly US$46 billion annually.
Nature News (30 April 2009)
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Fake Facebook pages spin web of deceit
The identities of over 100 scientists, policy-makers and journalists have been purloined to create a convincing — but bogus — network of apparent friends on the social-networking site Facebook.
Nature News (30 April 2009)
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Controversial vaccine fights prostate cancer
Sipuleucel-T (Provenge), a vaccine that trains the immune system to recognize and fight off prostate cancer cells, significantly increased survival in a large clinical trial.
Nature News (29 April 2009)
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Plants genes get fine tailoring
Zinc-finger nucleases have been used to perform targeted gene replacement in plant cells.
Nature News (29 April 2009)
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Austrian science faces budget challenges
The Austrian government has approved a small 2% rise in the science budget, hampering the country's plans for a big expansion in science.
Nature News (29 April 2009)
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News in brief
| United States urged to boost global health funds
| Canadian charged with smuggling Ebola
| New York's health commissioner to head CDC
| Lawsuit targets validity of human-gene patents
| Will a robot steal your job?
| New center aims to speed drug discovery
| Coast IRB hits treacherous waters
| New animal directive moves forward
| Social scientists join synthetic-biology centre
| South Africa's cabinet a mixed bag for science
| Japan to pay firms to relieve postdoc glut
| Chugai reports Actemra deaths
| Irish biotech buoyant
| Hospital to genotype all tumors
| Misconduct scandal hits German university
| South Korea re-enters human stem-cell research
| Biosecurity report cautious on strict researcher vettings
| Patent pool created for neglected diseases
| Long-awaited therapeutic cancer vaccine meets efficacy end point
| Close shave for Austrian science budget
| Nobel laureate celebrates her centenary
| Japan cuts red tape holding up stem-cell work
| Texas agencies sue over national disease lab
| Researchers rally to support animal studies
News Features
Physiology: Emissions control
Alongside other 'gasotransmitters' such as nitric oxide, hydrogen sulphide is earning a reputation in human physiology.
Nature News (28 May 2009)
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Origin of life: Nascence man
Working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, Mike Russell hopes to score a victory for the school of origin-of-life researchers known by the label 'metabolism first' in its long struggle with the more popular 'replicator first' school.
Nature News (21 May 2009)
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Breakthroughs Within Reach
Basic laboratory procedures can present physical challenges for biomedical researchers with disabilities, but a cadre of innovators has come up with technological solutions that make the laboratory bench more accessible to scientists with impaired sight or movement.
Nature Medicine News (May 2009)
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Microbiology: Tinker, bacteria, eukaryote, spy
Bacteria and their hosts may reside in different kingdoms, but that doesn't stop them from intercepting each other's communications.
Nature News (14 May 2009)
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Academia and the company coin
As the economic downturn chokes spin-outs from academia, a spate of newly minted university–industry partnerships are springing up — but failing to address the financial conflicts in such partnerships could spell trouble for both faculty and drug companies.
Nature Biotechnology News (May 2009)
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Protein structures: Structures of desire
Nature News finds that protein crystallographers dream of solving the structure of the eukaryotic ribosome, the spliceosome, the nuclear-pore complex, the HIV trimer and almost any transmembrane protein.
Nature News (7 May 2009)
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Harnessing open innovation
A new open-access platform called Sage aims to build complex, predictive models of disease.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery News (May 2009)
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