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A report from a European ethics committee gives a valuable summary of the issues surrounding stem-cell research. Debates over therapeutic cloning should not distract attention from central ethical concerns and alternative stem-cell techniques.
International bioprospecting in Mexico has ground to a halt amid uncertainty about the new government's approach to the collection and export of plant samples.
The deadlocked race for the US presidency, together with uncertainty over the extent of Republican control in the Senate, has left a huge question mark over who will be calling the shots in science policy in January.
Last week's disclosure of extensive fraud by one of Japan's leading archaelogists has led to renewed soul-searching about how much the country's most prominent scientists are allowed to escape peer criticism.
The people of Kansas City are hoping that this month's official opening of the $200 million Stowers Institute for Medical Research will provide a springboard to transform the city into a top life-science centre.
Bacteria do not always simply float around — more often they grow on surfaces in mucilaginous communities called biofilms. Working out how to block their formation or dismantle them could help treat life-threatening infections, says Marina Chicurel.
There is no evidence in ancient texts that Egyptians used astronomical knowledge in building the pyramids. But analysis of the night sky in 2500 bc could help explain how the pyramid builders knew the direction of true north.
Genetic analysis of cichlid fish in Nicaraguan lakes reveals a possible case of repeated sympatric speciation: the creation of two species from one in the same environment.
A classic theory of magnetism has been modernized by a novel use of thermodynamics. The theory can now describe the behaviour of ferromagnetic materials at higher temperatures.
Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas and also contributes to ozone loss. It seems that fertilizer run-off into coastal waters stimulates its production — at least to the west of India.
In flowering plants, genes have frequently been transferred from mitochondria to the cell nucleus by way of a remarkable evolutionary rapid-transit system.
Neural signals from the brains of monkeys have been used to drive the movement of robotic arms. The ultimate objective of such work is to design controllable prosthetic limbs.
The p53 tumour-suppressor gene integrates numerous signals that control cell life and death. As when a highly connected node in the Internet breaks down, the disruption of p53 has severe consequences.
