Talk about a hard call.Investors may have been quick to attach their unmistakable meaning to last month's disclosure by VaxGen Inc. of disappointing Phase III results for its HIV vaccine - the company's stock value nosedived by 47.3 percent - but the scientific world was far from convinced a disaster had taken place.

Science is all about experiments, so here's an idea for the blackboard: Imagine a world where biotechnology pays pharmaceutical companies to develop compounds.

NEW YORK - FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan's face projected on a huge screen in the American city hit hard by terrorists on 9/11 gave him the appearance of a commander exhorting his troops, as he offered details regarding Project Bioshield. (BioWorld Today)

Like making good soup, bringing laboratory discoveries to the point where they are useful to biotechnology typically takes a long time - and the science of RNA interference, or RNAi, is just about ready to dish up.