— A US district judge rejected patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes yesterday. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued patent owner Myriad Genetics in May, and the judge agreed with ACLU claims, writing that the “isolated DNA is not markedly different from native DNA as it exists in nature” and the “sequences are abstract mental processes,” making them unpatentable. (Reuters)

— The UK government will soon add the ‘legal high’ mephedrone, which has been linked to several deaths in the country, to its list of illegal drugs. Following on a recommendation by the Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs, UK home secretary Alan Johnson has decided to list mephedrone as Class B, on level with cannabis. (BBC)

— Scientists warn that the bacteria causing gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection, are rapidly developing resistance to the two antibiotics most frequently prescribed. With resistant strains seen in Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia, the World Health Organization is expected to discuss treatment strategies at a meeting next week. (Reuters)

— The efficacy of stroke treatments in animals might be overestimated, according to researchers. Because of publication bias, which selects for studies reporting positive findings, the study authors estimate that the 31% efficacy seen in reviewing published findings might be lowered to just 24% with unpublished data. In other research, scientists note that an imbalance toward using male mice is biasing research. (Science)

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