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Fighting It Out Over RNAi

Jul 07, 2009

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals are suing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the University of Massachusetts, "alleging that they had 'usurped' inventions that 'rightfully belong to Max Planck,'" reports Science Insider. Our sister publication RNAi News adds that Alnylam says it has patent- and patent application-licensing agreements worth about $640 million though the field is moving away from using conventional siRNAs that is "raising questions about the ultimate value of the IP."

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

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'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.