And a little too early according to many...

China deploys SARS vaccine

] Explore one of the newest frontiers in science - DNA
] mapping. From science labs to courtrooms, few discoveries
] are as exciting as the world of DNA. With this deluxe,
] first-of-its-kind kit, you can extract, view and map real
] DNA yourself. Ideal for budding forensic-scientists or
] secret agents, the working lab and tools are just like
] the real thing. Plus, you'll have all the supplies needed
] for six fascinating DNA experiments. Extract DNA from
] vegetables, find out what actually makes ink colors and
] even grow crystal stalagmites!

Its all fun and games until some kid drinks the mutagen.

cool - nano

Discovery DNA Explorer Kit

] Like the Segway, Bombardier's Embrio concept--a prototype
] that may or may not make production--uses gyroscope
] technology to balance riders but adds a dash of flair
] absent in the Segway, which we as car nuts find slightly
] nerdy.

leet!!

Canadian Segway

] Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Wednesday protested the
] U.S. treatment of a Canadian citizen who was detained in
] New York and deported to Syria last year on suspicion of
] having links to terrorists.

Overzealous officials had an (apparently innocent) Canadian man deported to Syria, where he was tortured for 10 months, because another man suspected of being connected to Al'Q co-signed a rental lease with him in 1997. This person is a Canadian citizen. I cannot comprehend why the U.S. Government felt it was more appropriate to turn him over to Syria, a state that is one of the U.S.'s declared enemies, then Canada, a trusted ally. All of the motives that I can imagine are inappropriate. If you prefer to send suspects to countries that don't have civil liberties and due process then you basically don't support civil liberties and due process. If that is the case you shouldn't be working in the United States Government.

(BTW, the British press used the word "condemns" where the Post says "protests." Chretien's exact words were "unacceptable and deplorable.")

Chretien Protests Deportation of Canadian (washingtonpost.com)

] Intravenous doses of a synthetic component of "good"
] cholesterol reduced artery disease in just six weeks in a
] small study with startlingly big implications for
] treating the nation's No. 1 killer.
]
] "The concept is sort of liquid Drano for the coronary
] arteries," said Dr. Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic
] cardiologist who led the study.
]
] Larger and longer studies need to be done to determine if
] the experimental treatment will translate into fewer
] deaths, but the early results are promising, said Dr.
] Daniel Rader, director of preventive cardiology at the
] University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
]
] The treatment used a laboratory-produced version of an
] unusually effective form of HDL, the good cholesterol
] that helps protect against heart disease by removing
] plaque, or fatty buildups, from the bloodstream.
]
] "This is clearly on the level of a breakthrough that will
] have far-reaching implications," pointing the way toward
] a rapid treatment for fatty buildups, said Dr. Bryan
] Brewer, chief of molecular diseases at the National
] Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Kick ass!

[Science is soooooo rad sometimes. Now, who wants to go grab some burgers and fries?;) - Nano]

New treatment works like 'liquid Drano for arteries'

] Ensembl presents up-to-date sequence data and the best
] possible annotation for metazoan genomes. Available now
] are human, mouse, rat, fugu, zebrafish, mosquito,
] Drosophila, C. elegans, and C. briggsae, Others will be
] added soon.

Surf the human genome!

[Surf's up dude:) - Nano]

Ensembl Genome Browser

] Stanford University researchers seeking better-looking
] DNA have created XDNA, extra-large DNA molecules that
] glow.

Wired News: DNA, Now in XXX-Large

] Why? It's an evolutionary mystery. The ability to regrow
] legs and eyes seems like a clear Darwinian advantage -
] one that surviving generations would have retained. But a
] paradox of regeneration is that the higher you move up
] the evolutionary chain, the less likely you'll have the
] ability to regrow limbs or organs. Keating's mission:
] figure out the cause of this paradox - and reverse it.

Regrow Your Own Broken heart? No problem. New liver? Coming right up. The road to regeneration starts here.

] Ralph Merkle, a Foresight founder who is now director of
] the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, says the
] group has always known its set of guidelines for nanotech
] regulation - really, a set of self-regulatory
] measures that ensure human control over nanotech -
] would not apply to real nanotechnology for decades. But
] one of Foresight's objectives is that there is adequate
] public discussion "well in advance of reality."
]
] "I think that one of the things that happens in any
] discourse about some complex subject is you get a lot of
] confusion," Merkle said. "That's part and parcel of the
] process, and so what you want to do is start the
] discussion early, and as time goes by the confusion
] gradually settles down. In other words, people make wild
] statements. Fine. They make statements that aren't
] accurate. Fine.
]
] "As time goes on, people will look back and see what was
] accurate and not."

This is an interesting discussion of nanoethics that has general implications for discussions of bioethics.

Small Times: NanoEthics

Laying a broad basis for possible future prescriptions, the President's Council on Bioethics yesterday issued an analysis of how biotechnology could lead toward unintended and destructive ends.

Called "Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness," the council's report concerns present and future interventions intended not to restore health but rather to alter genetic inheritance, to enhance mind or body, or to extend life span beyond its natural limits

Bush's Advisers on Biotechnology Express Concern on Its Use