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Stem cells, etc.
The wires are abuzz about the potential fall-out from last week’s ruling by a federal district judge to deny federal funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. At Science, read about potential repercussions (i.e. lab layoffs); worries that the ban could extend to all hESC research, not just new grants; and an exploration of what legal options might be available to fight the new ruling. Meanwhile, check out some editorials from newspapers that reacted to the ruling, read about Australian scientists’ concerns that the ruling could affect their research, and see some scientists’ hopes that private donors will fill in the gaps.

Human embryonic stem cells. Source: Wikimedia commons, Nissim Benvenisty

California scientists make up
Okay, so there won’t be a boycott of Nature Publishing Group (NPG) by University of California (UC) scientists after all. The threat emerged in June, when the UC system protested a proposed hike in fees, which would quadruple the cost of NPG journals at university libraries. But last week, the two parties released a joint statement saying they were going to “discuss our organizations’ current licensing challenges” and find a way to work things out, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Meanwhile, the union representing UC postdocs has come to an agreement with the university system over salaries