Minister Plasterk
Dutch scientist Ronald Plasterk has been appointed Minister of Education, Culture & Science in Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkendende’s cabinet. Plasterk has been in the political world for some time. He will replace Maria van der Hoeven, whose proposals on intelligent design may have made her less than well suited to the post (van der Hoeven will now be Minister of Economic Affairs). Plasterk’s most recent published work in NG, using massively parallel sequencing to identify microRNAs in human and chimpanzee brain, can be found here. One wonders if a ministerial job in the Dutch cabinet is only a part time position.