— The UK-based company ReNeuron has received final approval for a first-of-its-kind clinical trial from the country’s Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC). Investigators will inject neural stem cells into 12 stroke-damaged brains, hoping to see functional improvements over the course of two years. (Reuters)

— A synthetic form of marijuana, known as K2, is firing up legislators in Missouri. State representatives reviewed a bill on Tuesday that would ban the substance, which is being sold in the St. Louis area for just $30. Neighboring Kansas is also looking to tackle the summit of this new drug, which was developed in the 1990s but was found to have more psychotropic than therapeutic properties. (Post Dispatch)

– The DSM – psychiatry’s bible –- is up for revision for its fifth version, and in this Wiki-age, the public has a chance to comment on the proposed changes online. Significant revisions might include bringing Asperger’s syndrome under autism spectrum disorder, as well as introducing an alternative – temper dysregulation disorder – for the many children diagnosed as bipolar. (NYTimes)

— The UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) rejected two leukemia drugs -– Bristol-Meyers’ Sprycel and Novartis’ Tasigna -– because the drugs are too expensive (nearly $50,000 each per year) and studies don’t show the comparative effectiveness. In a statement, NICE said it would be “heartening to hear” that the drug makers would share in the burden of cost, or in other words: play NICE. (FiercePharma)

Image by twotec9s via Flickr Creative Commons