BSE-free clone?
Chinese scientists have cloned a calf from a cow that is resistant to BSE, or mad cow disease, China鈥檚 state media reported on 26 April. The calf, delivered in eastern China鈥檚 Shandong province, weighed 55 kilograms. Further tests will be needed to show whether calf is also BSE-resistant.
Men leave it too late
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Compared with women, men pay little attention to their reproductive biological clock, despite mounting evidence that their fertility declines with age. A study of nearly 2000 couples in France showed women to be between 25 and 50 per cent less likely to conceive if their partner is 40 or older.
Online library for Iraq
A virtual library has been created for Iraqi scientists and students. Set up by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it will give members of seven Iraqi universities, one research institution and the Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Science and Technology internet access to more than 17,000 academic journals.
Cosmic togetherness
Two giant black holes have been found a mere 24 light years apart, making them the closest pair ever found. The discovery was announced on Monday by Greg Taylor of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and his team, who used the Very Large Baseline Array telescope to detect radio signals from the black holes. The previous record was a pair 4500 light years apart.
Stem cell rethink
The World Stem Cell Hub, set up last year to provide embryonic stem cells for researchers worldwide, is officially defunct. The hub, at Seoul National University, was based on the now discredited work of Woo Suk Hwang. The facility will instead be used as a gene therapy clinic focusing on adult stem cells, a spokesman for SNU told The Korea Times on 27 April.