Time for the first ‘Around the blogs’ for the new year! Let’s see what discussions are going on related blogs*…

Victory for Open Access – NIH-funded research is now mandated to be freely available within 12 months after publication.

Just Science 2008 is getting set. Join in for a week of ONLY science at ‘science blogs’ (not merely Sb^TM), from February 4th to the 8th.

Tid bits – Science and Politics Edition – Recent stories on science and politics, and on science in contrast to faith. Need I say more?

Personal Genome Results from 23andMe and deCODEme – The personal genome results from the first wave of customers are rolling in.

Updated “Longest Synthetic DNA” Plot – On Venter’s drive to fabricate artificial life, Rob Carlson articulates why “…the philosophical implications of constructing an artificial genome are overblown.”

Extracting Functional Modules from Biological Pathways – Nature Precedings on a new way to identify functional modules of cellular functions.

Mitochondria on the Fritz? Just,Replace Them – A simple but unexpected discovery – “Mitochondria can be introduced into cells by simply co-incubating the two, allowing cells with damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria to recover efficient respiration.”

p53 & MicroRNA – Comment on a long-time favorite focus for cancer researchers, p53, and a relative newcomer hot-topic, microRNAs.

Collective Cell Invasion: Following the Leader’s Tracks – An explanation of how fibroblasts open routes for cancer cell invasions.

And lastly, check out Suzanne’s list of alternative careers for scientists. In a work-world where even very good scientists are getting competed out of research jobs, we have to consider alternatives. I can relate.

* = Okay, I included Nature Precedings and the Cell Migration Consortium, but the former is comments-enabled, and the latter is close enough. And, well, Suzanne’s is right here on Bitesize Bio, but it was such a good read.

Late Addition:
Integrin Phosphorylation as an Off Switch for Integrin Activation – Nick Anthis comments on a recently accepted JBC paper for which he was a coauthor. Congrats on the paper, Nick! (And sorry, I’d bookmarked the blog post a week or so ago, but missed the bookmark when putting this post together)