Stockholm, Sweden. Robert G. Edwards has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for the development of human in vitro fertilization (IVF) therapy.

Edwards had to battle societal and establishment resistance to his development of the IVF procedure, which has so far led to the birth of around 4 million people. His work led to a safe and standardized treatments for infertility, a medical condition afflicting more than 10% of all couples worldwide.

His work also led to the proliferation of fertilization clinics and focused fertility research by researchers from a variety of scientific disciplines.

A very important byproduct of IVF research and treatment has been the availability of human egg, sperm, and fertilized cell clusters for large-scale and intensive study. This has increased scientific understanding of a lengthening list of diseases and birth anomalies, including transsexual and intersex conditions. Quality control measures to ensure IVF quality have characterized egg and sperm properties with such detail they have improved scientific understanding of human reproduction and birth variations.

Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. The proliferation of scientific research data is creating an urgent situation for organizations and professionals charged with data handling and stewardship. The demand for data management and preservation services will be quite high, most particularly for those scientists working in areas traditionally considered to be "small science" disciplines that do not have access to a deep resource base.

A study of the overall problem appears in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, highlighting the need for data curation services tailored for the small sciences.

Fairfax, VA, USA. Scientists have developed a tiny needle to explore and ultimately deliver a payload directly to a cell's nucleus. The nanoneedle device is a breakthrough for penetrating the living cell membrane and deliver molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus.

The study of genetics, and the regulation of gene expression, depends on understanding processes inside the cell nucleus, which houses DNA and gene transcription. In the past, scientists have used proteins or dyes to track activity in the nucleus, but those can be large and tend to be sensitive to light, making them hard to use with simple microscopy techniques.

Researchers have been exploring a class of nanoparticles called quantum dots, tiny specks of semiconductor material only a few molecules big that can be used to monitor microscopic processes and cellular conditions. Quantum dots offer the advantages of small size, bright fluorescence for easy tracking, and excellent stability in light.

Syracuse, NY, USA. Researchers have mapped out an approach to virtual organizations that might allow scientific advances made in part by citizen scientists to move forward much more quickly.

Earlier work on virtual organizations has focused on distributed collaboration among scientists and related professionals. However, the rapidly increasing power of personal computers, the connectivity afforded by the internet and social media, as well as an apparent growing interest in scientific discovery means there is much greater access to scientific discovery for non-scientists than ever before.

"Citizen science is a form of organisation design for collaborative scientific research involving scientists and volunteers, for which internet-based modes of participation enable massive virtual collaboration by thousands of members of the public," explains Andrea Wiggins of Syracuse University, who works in the Kevin Crowston research group.

Bethesda, MD, USA. Edward H. Shortliffe, MD, PhD, recommends biomedical informatics be included in the education of physicians. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), he points out that although information underlies all clinical work, and despite the growing role that information management and access play in healthcare delivery and clinical support, there is a dearth of informatics competency being developed in America's future corps of physicians.

Formalized education in the application of informatics and the use and methodologies of health information technology and exchange.