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Pred mesecem dni je New York Times pisal o iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition), tekmovanju univerzitetnih ekip v sintetični biologiji. Zapis seveda ne gre mimo omembe Ljubljanskega teama in njegove vodje Romana Jerale, o katerem na 4 in 5 str. preberete:

Or consider the case of the Slovenian iGEM team, the most intimidating squad coming into last fall’s jamboree and also the hardest to miss, having forgone mere team T-shirts for severe, blue athletic jerseys that made the dozen young Slovenians seem capable of sprinting 200 meters or throwing a discus at a moment’s notice. “I think the last two years, we have 100 percent, beyond doubt, the best shirts,” the team’s adviser, Roman Jerala, told me.

Slovenia had won the BioBrick trophy in two of the past three iGEMs, including the previous fall, when it produced a possible vaccine for a bacteria that causes stomach ulcers, presenting promising data in mice. The team is covered consistently by the Slovenian media, and Jerala had recently lectured about synthetic biology to the Slovenian National Assembly. A television network named him one of Slovenia’s seven most influential people.
Ameriška psihiatrična zveza je razkrila svoje predloge za spremembe svojega vplivnega priročnika "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders". Predlagane spremembe vključujejo poenotenje diagnoz avtizma, vpeljava pojma odvisnosti od iger na srečo ter združitev diagnoze odvisnosti od alkohola in zlorabe alkohola. Pripombe na predloge zbirajo do 10. aprila letos. Novica o tem na Nature je tukaj.

ERC (European Research Council) je dobil novo predsednico - Helgo Nowotny.

O problemih regulacije alternativne medicine, kjer so trditve namesto na znanosti osnovane na veri, piše Ben Goldacre v svoji kolumni v Guardianu.

Ekskluziven intervju revije Nature z glavnim akterjem Climategatea klimatologom Philom Jonesom lahko najdete tukaj.

Nekateri nemški raziskovalci na področju genskega inžiniringa selijo delo na terenu v ZDA zaradi nevarnosti uničenja testnih polj in nestabilne politike regulacije v Nemčiji. Institut za genetiko rastlin z Leibnizove Univerze v Hannovru tako seli teste gensko modificiranega graha v Severno Dakoto.

Lahko Afrika premaga Avstralijo v tekmi za največjim radijskim teleskopom na svetu: Square Kilometer Array?

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