— According to the Wall Street Journal, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at possible insider trading related to recent drug company deals. Subpoenas were reportedly sent to hedge funds and brokerages regarding information shared about buyouts and acquisitions by four pharmaceutical giants, Pfizer, Merck, Abbott Laboratories and Eli Lilly. (FiercePharma)

— Knocking out a single gene can cause a partial sex switch in female mice, according to a new study. Silencing the FoxL2 gene in adulthood caused the animals’ ovaries to transform into testes. (Nature News)

— The Medical Group Management Association sent a letter to David Blumenthal, chair of the US Health Information Technology Policy Committee, recommending changes to ‘meaningful use’ guidelines for electronic medical records. It criticized targets set out for 2011, 2012 and 2013 – incentivized by US stimulus legislation – as inflexible and potentially disruptive to health care. (AMNews)

— Construction of Harvard’s $1 billion life-sciences complex in Allston, Massachusetts will be indefinitely put on hold this March. The poor economy and Harvard’s dropping endowment precipitated the decision, with President Drew Gilpin Faust noting the university might look at leasing some of the space. (ScienceInsider)

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