— Nearly a decade after Bush’s 2001 ban on federal funds for new embryonic stem cell lines, the US National Institutes of Health approved 13 additional cell lines of this kind for federally-funded research. Stay tuned, though, it looks as though there are more to come soon. (WaPo)

— Trans fats certainly keep the taste buds happy – but the same can’t be said about the heart. Researchers who analyzed medical records from the Nurses’ Health Study say they have the first evidence linking consumption of trans fats with an elevated risk of death from sudden cardiac arrest. (Reuters)

— With dwindling drug pipelines, pharmaceutical companies are tapping in to new markets. This week Pfizer announced a licensing deal for rights to a drug called taliglucerase alfa. The drug, which is not yet approved in the US, is designed to treat a rare metabolic disorder known as Gaucher’s disease. (NYTimes)

— This year Santa Claus cares a bit less about whether you’ve been naughty or nice, and a lot more about whether you’ve washed your hands. A group known as Santa America has asked children to ‘Santa-tize’ their hands before they hop on his lap at the mall to discuss their wish list for gifts. It’s all part of an effort to stop the spread of H1N1 ‘swine’ flu. My advice to Santa: stay away from Rudolph. That reindeer’s red nose is a dead giveaway for flu-like symptoms. (NewJerseyNewsroom.com)

Image: Flickr/ Joe Shlabotnik via Creative Commons