Brown to boost sciences
Chancellor Gordon Brown is to signal significant extra funding for science in schools and universities in a speech setting the parameters for next month’s three-year spending round. The criteria set by Mr Brown confirm education as the biggest spending priority after health. (The Financial Times)
Gene project yields skin cancer breakthrough
Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Centre in Cambridge have discovered the genetic mutation behind most cases of malignant melanoma, the lethal form of skin cancer. They are already looking for drugs to block the action of the defective gene. The discovery, reported in the online version of Nature, is the first fruit of the trust’s cancer genome project. (The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times)
Animal rights lobby stifles research, Royal Society says
Britain is in danger of being left behind in the race to develop new medical treatments because of the influence of protestors against research with genetically modified animals, the Royal Society has said. It said pressure groups are drowning out the debate over the future direction of GM research. (The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Times)
Doctors decry new training board
The quality of doctors could be put at risk by proposals for a new training board, doctors’ leaders have said. The Royal Colleges and the British Medical Association have joined forces to criticise aspects of the proposed Postgraduate Medical Education Standards Board. (The Times)
Government forces sixth-form cuts
One in four secondary schools has had its sixth-form budget cut because of government changes to the manner of funding. (The Independent)
Sinking Venice calls for help
A team of British experts, led by David Paterson of St Andrews University, has been called in to try to save Venice from increasing inundation from flooding and to prevent the ancient palaces from being battered by winter storms. (The Guardian)
Rodney Hilton, medieval historian, dies
Rodney Hilton, the medieval historian and advocate of the British Marxist tradition, has died. His great achievement was to reveal new dimensions of the lives of medieval peasants and townspeople and to outline the dynamic forces behind social and economic change. (The Guardian)