Malaria. Can WHO roll back malaria?

In October 1998, World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland announced Roll Back Malaria, a multiagency crusade that aims to cut malaria mortality in half over the next 10 years. Brundtland might just be the one to pull it off, say numerous public health experts, although some researchers question whether the goal is realistic.     

French science. New CNRS chief hopes to deliver on science

For years, French research ministers have prodded the nation's scientists to make their research pay off for society. But that message has been slow to sink in. Last week, the government gave the assignment to a biologist who has done exactly that, but who believes that the carrot works better than the stick.     

European science. Bug Bastille to open under new management

In the next few weeks, Europe's most advanced high-security pathogen lab is expected to open for business in the southern French city of Lyons, but the long-anticipated debut of this "hot" lab is not turning out to be a joyous occasion for some of those involved. Last week, the Marcel Mérieux Foundation, which paid for the lab's construction, announced that the Pasteur Institute will take over its "scientific direction" and gave Pasteur the authority to name the lab's director. The leading candidate is a Pasteur scientist, which would leave the lab's current director out in the cold.     

European science. Pathogens lab chief stripped of duties

Europe's most advanced high-security pathogen lab has claimed its first human casualty--and it hasn't even opened for business. On 28 June, the Marcel Mérieux Foundation, which funded the construction of the $8 million facility in Lyons, banned lab director Susan Fisher-Hoch from the premises and launched legal proceedings to dismiss her. Fisher-Hoch's most egregious offense, it appears, was speaking with the press.