Nature News

Biotechnology

• Rice seed yields blood protein
  Human serum albumin from transgenic rice could ease shortages of donated blood.
• Max Planck Society opens South American outpost
  Partner institute in Buenos Aires will focus on neuroscience and drug development.
• Fetal gene screening comes to market
  Non-invasive procedure could make prenatal testing easier, but it comes with ethical problems.
• European ban on stem-cell patents has a silver lining
  Researchers can work without fear of action over patent infringement.
• Antibody offers hope for multiple sclerosis treatment
  Promising phase III trial paves the way for alemtuzumab approval.
• European court bans patents based on embryonic stem cells
  Final decision could stifle investment in developing therapies.
• No quick fix for Haiti cholera
  As outbreak enters its second year, relief bodies move to roll out vaccine for the first time.
• Cloned human embryo makes working stem cells
  Researchers begin to identify past problems with cloning technique.
• Renewable rubber hits the road
  Deal between Amyris and Michelin highlights industry's hunt for a profitable niche.
• Draft guidelines for nanomedicine unveiled
  With hundreds of nanoproducts currently being tested in humans, recommendations aim to safeguard trial participants.
• Bacteria encode secret messages
  Undercover act as updated invisible ink.
• Texas prepares to fight for stem cells
  Enthusiasm for unapproved treatments worries regulators.
• US plant scientists seek united front
  Academia and industry join forces to carve out ten-year plan.
• Biodefence since 9/11: The price of protection
  Since the anthrax attacks in 2001, some $60 billion has been spent on biodefence in the United States. But the money has not bought quite what was hoped.
• Electrified bacterial filaments zap uranium
  Mechanism by which microbes scrub radioactive contamination revealed.

Chemistry

• Drug research feels Europe's pain
  Pharma companies see drops in revenue amid European austerity measures.
• Nanoparticle solar cells make light work
  Cheap, printable photovoltaics might finally live up to their early promise.
• China unveils clean energy lab
  Dalian National Laboratory will focus on reducing carbon emissions from coal.
• Persistence pays off for crystal chemist
  Discovery of mosaic material wins Nobel prize.
• Impossible crystals snag chemistry Nobel
  Daniel Shechtman takes award for doggedly pursuing quasicrystals.
• Renewable rubber hits the road
  Deal between Amyris and Michelin highlights industry's hunt for a profitable niche.
• Secrets of artificial leaf revealed
  Sunlight falling on a catalyst-coated silicon wafer splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
• Nitrogen pollution disrupts Pacific Ocean
  Surging nitrates in Asian waters could dramatically affect marine wildlife.
• Chemistry resurrected at London university
  King's College redesigns programme to focus on biomedicine.
• Electrified bacterial filaments zap uranium
  Mechanism by which microbes scrub radioactive contamination revealed.
• Chemical shortage hampers 'legal high' work
  Identification of suspect substances depends on reference materials that are in short supply.
• Cell signalling: It's all about the structure
  For more than 20 years, Brian Kobilka worked to create a portrait of a key cell receptor. Sometimes, the slow, steady approach wins.
• China's chemists should avoid the Vanity Fair
  Problems in Chinese science are well documented. The slow pace of reform affects chemists more than most, says Nai-Xing Wang.
• Virtual hunt for solar technology yields initial results
  Theoretical screening method produces first sample molecule as researchers analyse 3.5 million candidates for solar cells.
• Chemicals track Fukushima meltdown
  Radioactive sulphur signal adds to evidence of catastrophe.

Health & Medicine

• Fresh dispute about MMR 'fraud'
  Pathology records are at the centre of a new disagreement over disgraced medic Andrew Wakefield.
• US lawsuit extends thalidomide's reach
  Drug blamed for a broader range of harmful effects.
• Aid organizations tap into social-science expertise
  Behavioural and cultural studies seen as key to success of public-health initiatives.
• Palestinian membership puts UN projects at risk
  Science and culture agency loses US funding, and other bodies could follow.
• Scientists and autism: When geeks meet
  Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen thinks scientists and engineers could be more likely to have a child with autism. Some researchers say the proof isn't there.
• Special issue on neuroscience: The autism enigma
  Diagnoses and research funding are rising, but much about autism remains a puzzle. seeks some truths.
• Autism's fight for facts: A voice for science
  Convinced by the evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, Alison Singer started a research foundation that pledges to put science first.
• The prevalence puzzle: Autism counts
  Shifting diagnoses and heightened awareness explain only part of the apparent rise in autism. Scientists are struggling to explain the rest.
• Smoking stokes cocaine cravings
  Molecular mechanism found for controversial 'gateway drug' hypothesis.
• Mental-health guide accused of overreach
  Dispute grows over revisions to diagnostic handbook.
• Mississippi to vote on 'personhood'
  Ballot measure would give fertilized eggs human rights.
• Research cuts hit the DNA business
  Makers of sequencing machines hope for profits in the clinic.
• Spanish institute faces cash crisis
  About 100 researchers at the Prince Felipe Research Centre expect to lose their jobs.
• Rice seed yields blood protein
  Human serum albumin from transgenic rice could ease shortages of donated blood.
• More clues in the genetics of schizophrenia
  Chinese researchers add three chromosomal regions to a slow-growing list of genetic links.