In yet another blow to the biotech food industry's pretense of papal infallibility, scientists have found some unexpected DNA next to the inserted gene in the Monsanto Company's Roundup Ready soybeans, casting doubts on the biotechnology industry's assertions that its technology is precise and predictable.

An Australian radio station, DMG Radio, has won a court battle against rival stations after their PR consultant, Ken Davis of Turnbull Porter Novelli, admitted that he was involved in a bogus letter-writing campaign designed to undermine DMG's credibility. Davis sent out more than 50 letters using a fake identity to Australian politicians and the media, accusing DMG of destroying country radio and sparking a parliamentary inquiry into the "decline of local radio programming." Turnbull Porter Novelli is the Australian office of Porter Novelli International.

Traditionally, universities have been reservoirs of independent thinking where tenured faculty had the academic freedom to analyze and interpret science and its implications for society without pressure from financially interested parties. But as funding ties between private industry and universities grow, the pool of independent research is shrinking. Karen Charman examines the growing sense of intimidation felt by academic critics of the biotechnology industry in particular.