In February 2013, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will begin a research program that will initially focus on eight types of cancer. The Moon Shots Program will create six teams of scientists and clinicians to work on projects to develop tests, drugs and policies. Unlike the past, the teams will share infrastructure […]

Despite Congress having passed a continuing resolution to maintain federal agencies’ budgets through the first half of fiscal 2013 (see IBO 8/15/12), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) estimates that sequestration could result in a federal R&D budget cut of $57.5 billion, or 8.4%, through 2017. Budgets for nondefense R&D at science […]

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Developments’ (OECD) “OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2012,” countries face new challenges to spur innovation in the face of economic constraints. Following the economic crisis, total R&D investments by businesses in OECD member countries declined 4.5% in 2009. Future growth for such expenditures is expected to […]

In July, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) published accreditation standards for labs performing next-generation sequencing (NGS) for clinical applications. The standards are a new addition to the molecular pathology checklist portion of CAP’s Laboratory Accreditation Program. The checklist consists of 18 requirements divided into sections for wet bench processing and bioinformatics. Among the checklist […]

A US Court of Appeals earlier this month overturned the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which would have established new pollution controls in 28 states and Washington, DC. The Court determined that the EPA overreached its power in requiring emissions reductions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from Midwest power plants. The ruling stated that the […]