Business in 2006

Cases involving long-term users of Vioxx will, as Meredith Wadman reports, determine the true cost to Merck and the drug industry of the painkiller's withdrawal.

Lucent hopes that a leader with an entrepreneurial bent will revive the legendary Bell Laboratories. Geoff Brumfiel reports.

A Japanese giant is betting big on nuclear power — but not everyone thinks the gamble will pay off, as Kurt Kleiner reports.

The European Patent Office could fall victim of its own success, as threatened national offices attempt to claw back some influence. Alison Abbott reports.

China has become the preferred place for international firms to open research labs — and Japan is leading the way, reports Ichiko Fuyuno.

Advanced Cell Technology plans to tread cautiously on the ground left vacant by the collapse of a South Korean scientist's claims to have cloned a human embryo, as David Cyranoski reports.

Probing parasite’s evasive tricks could herald novel anti-inflammatory compounds.