Cell signaling news
Here we present recent news items specially selected from Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
September 2008
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News | News in brief | News Features
News
California institute to help stem-cell biotechs
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is launching a loan program that aims to help private biotechnology companies while providing a funding stream for the institute.
Nature News (25 September 2008)
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Monoclonal antibodies come of age
Monoclonal antibodies are now cheaper and easier to produce, leading to hopes that therapeutic antibodies will soon be available for a myriad of infectious diseases.
Nature News (25 September 2008)
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Japan fast-tracks stem-cell patent
Kyoto University in Japan has acquired the world's first patent for induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Nature News (18 September 2008)
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Swollen with success
Nature has generated a series of cartograms that display data from the State Indicators chapter of the 2008 edition of the US National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Science and Technology Indicators.
Nature News (18 September 2008)
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Data on display
Organic chemist Jean-Claude Bradley of Drexel University and biochemist Cameron Neylon of the University of Southampton describe their 'open notebook' approach of posting data online as they are produced.
Nature News (18 September 2008)
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Gene chips unmask cryptic diseases
A team led by genome scientist Evan Eichler at the University of Washington in Seattle linked deletions and duplications in a region of chromosome 1 that is 1.35 million DNA bases long to cases of autism and learning difficulties.
Nature News (18 September 2008)
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A longer paper gathers more citations
An analysis of 30,027 peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2004 in top astronomy journals seems to indicate that researchers could garner more citations simply by making their papers longer.
Nature News (18 September 2008)
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Bisphenol A linked to disease in humans
High levels of bisphenol A (BPA) — a chemical used in some containers for food and drink — may be associated with an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in humans.
Nature News (16 September 2008)
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China rushes through major funding system
Chinese researchers rush to submit proposals in response to a request for grant applications for two national 'megaprojects' in infectious disease and drug discovery.
Nature News (11 September 2008)
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Lab Politics
A panel of experts discusses where US biomedical research might head after November's presidential election.
Nature News (11 September 2008)
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French university under fire for culling macaques
Primate scientists are criticizing a decision at the Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France, to kill a research colony of Tonkean macaques that were infected with the herpes B virus, even though the animals had never shown symptoms of the disease.
Nature News (11 September 2008)
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Chemical screening centers get funding boost
Nine academic institutes in the United States have been selected to host an ambitious and controversial chemical biology network that will use advanced high-throughput methods to screen a library of 300,000 compounds in search of those that might be useful in treating disease or for studying basic biology.
Nature News (5 September 2008)
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Pharmas partner in venture seeking drug discovery tools
Merck, Pfizer and Eli Lilly have teamed up with a Boston-based investment firm to form Enlight Biosciences, an R&D startup that aims to generate new tools for drug discovery.
Nature Biotechnology 26, 960-961 (2008)
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GSK's Harvard cash injection
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Harvard University have signed a 5-year, US$25 million research agreement to study stem cells.
Nature Biotechnology 26, 956 (2008)
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Actemra poised to launch IL-6 inhibitors
An expert panel at the US Food and Drug Administration has shown support for Roche's Actemra (tocilizumab), a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor.
Nature Biotechnology 26, 957-959 (2008)
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Bioterror experts split on recommendations for 'dual use' research
Biologists, biosecurity experts and university administrators are working with US funding agencies in an effort to develop guidelines for identifying and regulating dual-use research.
Nature Medicine 14, 893 (2008)
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Stem cells promise to dish on diseases
Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from individuals with genetic disorders; these cells may be useful for understanding disease pathology and developing new treatments.
Nature Medicine 14, 895 (2008)
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10 ways to transform your lab
Architectural experts say that a few strategic changes in a laboratory space can help reduce overcrowding and noise and increase productivity.
Nature Medicine 14, 897-899 (2008)
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Straight talk with...Fotis Kafatos
Biologist Fotis Kafatos, the chairman of the policy-setting body for the European Research Council (ERC), discusses his research career and his stewardship of the ERC.
Nature Medicine 14, 902-903 (2008)
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Mixed results for disease-modification strategies for Alzheimer's disease
High-profile programs that aim to develop the first disease-modifying drug for Alzheimer's disease have suffered major setbacks, but there is still strong support for a range of efforts to transform disease treatment.
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 7, 717-718 (2008)
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Russia's international research ties under threat
The growing tension between Russia and the EU could delay Russia's entry into the Seventh Framework Programme, the main pan-European research funding tool.
Nature News (4 September 2008)
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Mathematical biology centre launched
A new US National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) will bring mathematical approaches to problems across biology, with a particular focus on modeling the dynamics of animal disease.
Nature News (4 September 2008)
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Republicans at odds over human embryo research
The US Republican Platform Committee has proposed a ban on a huge swathe of human stem cell research — from attempts to improve preservation of frozen embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics to the privately financed creation of new stem-cell lines.
Nature News (4 September 2008)
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News in brief
| Creationism row forces out UK educator
| Anthrax enquiry to undergo independent review
| Researcher punished for misconduct wins NSF grant
| Australian clinic gets permit to clone stem cells
| US health agency gets creative with grants
| Bisphenol A exposure may pose disease risk
| Lancet retracts paper on stem-cell treatment
| Wellcome Trust goes into partnership with India
| Harmonizing high-throughput information standards
| UK mega biomedical research hub
| First FDA-approved therapy for Huntington's disease
| DNA databases shut after identities compromised
| 'YouTube for test tubes' to be listed on PubMed
News Features
US election: The home stretch
Nature looks at how John McCain and Barack Obama have developed their thoughts on science and technology, and where each of them might take the country if elected.
Nature News (25 September 2008)
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US election: Questioning the candidates
Barack Obama accepted Nature's invitation to answer 18 science-related questions on topics from evolution to science policy.
Nature News (25 September 2008)
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US election: Agencies of change
Nature profiles the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to gauge how the plight of these agencies will change under a new presidential administration.
Nature News (25 September 2008)
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Science prizes: Best in class
The MacArthur Foundation, which recognizes and rewards people who demonstrate exceptional creativity, has awarded fellowships to 25 recipients in the arts, humanities and sciences.
Nature News (25 September 2008)
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Protein engineering: The fate of fingers
Proteins with designer zinc-finger domains that bind to specific DNA sequences will soon be available.
Nature News (11 September 2008)
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Trouble at the office
The US Food and Drug Administration's Office of Oncology Products has suffered stinging criticism from drug developers, advocates and even a US legislator over the use of surrogate endpoints — such as reduction of tumor size or progression-free survival — when considering approval of novel anti-cancer therapies.
Nature Biotechnology 26, 967-969 (2008)
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Big data: Wikiomics
Scientist-edited interactive 'wiki'-type websites aim to help biologists turn the data flooding into the large public gene and protein databases into useful knowledge.
Nature News (4 September 2008)
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