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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 20 declined, 7 accepted (27 total, 25.93% accepted)

Submission + - "Genomic medicine, finally"

Daniel Dvorkin writes: When I first started studying bioinformatics almost fifteen years ago (!) what drew me to the field was the promise that we might soon be able to provide effective, personalized treatments for a wide variety of diseases. There have been some successes along the way, like genetic tests for warfarin dosage, but for the most part our gains in understanding of basic biology haven't been matched by clinical advances. Now it looks like that is at long last about to change, and it's about time.

Too many people suffer and die from too many diseases that we more or less understand, but can't effectively treat. I hated it when I worked in hands-on patient care, and I hate it now in the lab. We are, finally, getting there.
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Submission + - Russia wants weapons IP

Daniel Dvorkin writes: "In the latest example of intellectual property demands gone wild, Russia wants licensing fees for the production of AK-47's. According to first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov, the unlicensed production of Kalashnikovs (which have been around in very nearly their current form for half a century) in ex-Soviet Bloc countries is "intellectual piracy." A giant but declining power starts demanding royalties on commonly used methods and materials that are widely understood, well known, and by any reasonable standard have long been in the public domain — does this sound familiar? IP insanity is everywhere, it seems."

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