Week of February 22, 2006

The Boston Globe

Audio Slideshow: Rejection of Drug Shows Risk of Biotech Business
Stephen Heuser
Feb. 24, 2006
"As Massachusetts grows increasingly dependent on the life-science industry for its economic future, the rejection of [GTC Biotherapeutics Inc.'s] pioneering application also highlights a fundamental risk of the business: A company's future can hinge on one drug and a single government decision."
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National Public Radio

Audio: Sacred Protection for Medicinal Plants
Elizabeth Arnold
Feb. 21, 2006
"At the Kunming Institute of Botany, scientists analyze and synthesize the chemical compounds of China's wealth of medicinal plants. The institute's deputy director, Yang Yongping, says the government's goal is to develop a profitable pharmaceutical industry in Yunnan Province -- and that leads to a firm commitment to conservation, to protect the source of potential new medicines."

Audio: A Hunt for Life-Saving Lessons from a Grim Past
Richard Harris
Feb. 20, 2006
"The great flu pandemic of 1918 killed 50 million people -- more than any other disease outbreak in the history of the world. John Oxford, a prominent British medical researcher, is exhuming the pandemic's long-dead victims in an effort to find details about how the flu worked its way through Europe."

Audio: A Painful Struggle over Nigeria's Abandoned Children
Brenda Wilson
Feb. 18, 2006
"AIDS adds to an orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet concerns from trafficking to cultural differences make it hard for outsiders to adopt. The story of two children in Nigeria illustrates the issue."

CNN

Video: Bill Clinton on AIDS Fight
Satinder Bindra
Feb. 20, 2006
"Former President Clinton talks to CNN's Satinder Bindra about his foundation's role in the HIV/AIDS fight." (Related Associated Press story)

Video: U.S. Health Care -- Personal Health Care Managers
Carol Lin
Feb. 20, 2006
"Health coaching is a service that navigates clients through a confusing system. CNN's Carol Lin reports."

CBS News

Video: Life-Saving Goats?
Trish Regan
Feb. 20, 2006
"A new drug is being developed that could substantially reduce the danger of life-threatening blood clots. As Trish Regan reports, it's all about goats." (Requires Real Player)

Week of February 15, 2006

The Boston Globe

Audio: Oh, The Things You Will See If You Live To Be 110
Steven Rosenberg
Feb. 16, 2006
"[Antonio] Pierro, who was born 110 years ago [Wednesday], explains his longevity in one word -- genetics...Although he sleeps at least 16 hours a day, Pierro also stays active. He shovels snow, rakes leaves, and washes the dishes after every meal. 'If you don't have exercise, you get stiff, you're not worth anything,' said Pierro, who often reads medical journals and the Bible." (Related print edition story)
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BBC News

Video: Campaigners Welcome Smoking Ban
Gary O'Donoghue
Feb. 15, 2006
"MPs have voted by a huge majority to ban smoking from all pubs and private members' clubs in England. The law is expected to take effect in summer 2007."

PBS: Frontline

The Meth Epidemic
Feb. 14, 2006
"From coast to coast, meth abuse is on the rise, but who's responsible? Is the government doing enough to crack down on this latest drug craze?" (A multimedia page with numerous resources, including the full program available for viewing online.)

National Public Radio

Audio: U.K. Takes Lead in Stem-Cell Research
Joe Palca
Feb. 14, 2006
"As the debate about embryonic stem-cell research rages in the United States, the United Kingdom is trying to become a leader in this burgeoning field of research. It has launched a stem-cell bank and is building several labs to make pharmaceutical-grade stem cells."

CNN

Video: High-Tech Scanner for Heart
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Feb. 14, 2006
"A device lets doctors look at images of patients' hearts without having to enter the body."

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer

Video: Drug Companies Conduct Research in India
Feb. 14, 2006
A report from India on drug companies outsourcing research to overseas scientists.

CBS News

Video: The Mystery Of Alzheimer's
Dr. Sean Kenniff
Feb. 11, 2006
Finding the exact cause of Alzheimer's disease has been a great challenge for researchers. But two new studies could help lead scientists to some answers."

Week of February 8, 2006

ABC News

Video: Do Low-Fat Diets Help Health?
Dr. Tim Johnson
Feb. 8, 2006
"A monumental study finds low-fat diets do not reap significant health benefits."

National Public Radio

Audio: Babies' Cells Linger, May Protect Mothers
Robert Krulwich
Feb. 8, 2006
"Some scientists have proposed that when a woman has a baby, she gets not just a son or a daughter, but a gift of cells that stays behind and protects her for the rest of her life. That's because a baby's cells linger in its mom's body for decades and -- like stem cells -- may help to repair damage when she gets sick. It's such an enticing idea that even the scientists who came up with the idea worry that it may be too beautiful to be true."

Audio: Haiti Violence Disrupts Health Care Services
Steve Inskeep
Feb. 7, 2006
"[Reporter] Steve Inskeep hears about the impact Haiti's political violence on basic health care from Dr. Paul Farmer of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Farmer is executive vice president of Partners in Health, which founded a medical center in a settlement of Haitian squatters."

Audio: The Next Pandemic: Bird Flu, or Fear?
Terry Gross
Feb. 2, 2006
Fear and paranoia often take hold when a disease threatens to become an epidemic. Dr. Marc K. Siegel is the author of the new book Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.

Chicago Tribune

Photo Slideshow & Audio: China's AIDS Road
Evan Osnos
Feb. 5, 2006
"This ancient road has had many names: Old tea-horse trail. The Burma Road. Route 320. But the label that matters most today is one that appears on no sign at all: the AIDS road." (Related print edition story.)
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