Commentary

The major national regulatory regimes for agbiotech products fail to satisfy scientific legitimacy on several counts.

A group of academics, industry executives and security experts propose an oversight framework to address concerns over the security of research involving commercial DNA synthesis.

Given that Californian voters authorized state coffers to sell $3 billion in bonds to fund the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) with the expectation of health and financial benefits, what benchmarks should be used to measure the initiative's success?

Lack of recognition of the ethical, social and policy issues associated with the commercialization of neurotechnology could compromise new ventures in the area.

The Brookhaven Protein Data Bank was once a pioneering database, but its organization of structural data is now outdated and in need of an upgrade.

Other areas of biomedical research should emulate new standards from the International Society for Stem Cell Research highlighting the importance of sharing materials, data and research rights, and requiring fair global access to resulting diagnostics and therapies.

To reduce unacceptably high death rates from snakebite envenomation, sub-Saharan Africa must adopt not only a new generation of multivalent biotech antivenoms, but also an infrastructure to deliver them.

The evidence gathered thus far—ultimately to be published in the Draft Risk Assessment on Animal Cloning—indicates that there are no unique risks associated with animal cloning.

Is uncertainty concerning the regulation of antimicrobial drug trials stifling investment in infectious disease treatments? Here, experts from a large pharma company and a biotech firm provide their perspectives.

Can weakly active phytochemicals be combined synergistically to produce new antibacterial treatments?

Although whole phage continue to generate interest as an alternative to antibiotics, focus is shifting to the use of purified phage components as antibacterial agents.

Antibiotics markets are huge and the need for new classes of antibiotics is great, but the risks give investors pause.

A combination of approaches and compounds—many of which failed to yield immediate results in the past—will ultimately prove invaluable to the drug industry in the ongoing battle against infectious disease.

To avoid duplication of effort, slow adoption and inefficiency in development, those developing biological standards need to communicate more with each other, attract help from experts in the ontology/standards communities and keep focused on needs of users.

Contrary to conventional thinking, there are compelling reasons for investors to consider early-stage life science ventures, especially in the context of a maturing biotech business 'ecosystem'.

Implementation of the Minimal Information About a Microarray Experiment document provides several lessons for similar ongoing initiatives in other fields.

When is an artificial cell alive? A Turing test–like method may provide the answer.