Today's news

Scientists condemn genetics watchdog report as 'irresponsible'
A report by the genetics monitoring group GeneWatch says British scientists
are genetically modifying and cloning hundreds of thousands of animals a year
with little health or commercial advantage. Harry Griffin, assistant director
of the Roslin Institute, which developed Dolly the sheep, led criticism of the
report. "For GeneWatch to condemn a whole technology based on a few selected
examples is irresponsible," he said. (Guardian)

Lord May attacks MMR assurances
The president of the Royal Society has attacked the government for giving
blanket reassurances on the MMR vaccine. He said they risked further
undermining the confidence of the public. (Telegraph)

Leading chemist dies
Sir Ewart Jones, the first president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, has
died aged 91. The scientist gave his name to 'Jones Oxidation'. (Telegraph)

Cancer cells isolated by freezing
Researchers in France and America believe a new treatment for cancer will
prove highly effective and more selective than conventional treatments.
Cancerous cells have been frozen before being wiped out by drugs. The research
is led by Lluis Mir, from the Gustave-Roussy Institute near Paris, and Boris
Rubinsky, from the University of California at Berkeley. (Independent, Times)

Is this man bigger than Newton and Darwin?
British scientist Stephen Wolfram claims his new book, A New Kind of Science,
will revolutionise science. (Telegraph)

Housework does you a fat lot of good
A study by Bristol University doctors refutes previous claims by exercise
gurus that women get all the exercise they need from dusting, polishing and
hovering. In fact the study found that women who did more than eight hours of
heavy housework a week were more likely to be overweight than those who did
none at all. (Times, Mail)

French police catch highly educated madam
An Englishwoman with a string of higher education qualifications and fluency
in five languages has been running Europe's most successful escort girl ring.
(Times, Telegraph)

An inflatable Bertrand Russell with every subscription
Alan Coren discusses the dumbing down of intelligence itself. (Times)

Minister sets up innovation unit
Estelle Morris, the education and skills secretary, has set up an innovation
unit to generate new ideas for education reform. (Financial Times)

The student activist turned IT training entrepreneur
Cambridge economics graduate Henry Stewart is determined to make his business embody his leftwing values. (Financial Times)