I wrote about the movement towards broader testing for HIV for the Los Angeles Times. In the past, the test was only offered to people in high-risk groups, such as i.v. drug users and gay men. Now, everyone between the ages of 13 and 65 should be screened, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Age 13, you say? So did I, as the mom of a 12-year-old. Think of it as a necessary education in today's world. AIDS isn't going away soon, and as teens contemplate their sexuality and parents do their best to talk to their teens, a doctor saying, let's test for cholesterol and HIV, will drive that point home.

For the Author's Page at Nature (subscription only), I profiled Barry Trost, a medicinal chemist who found a shortcut to a complex chemical structure -- one that may pave the way for new anti-tumor drugs. Trost believes chemistry and development of synthetic tools is the key to improving the quality and the diversity of leads pursued by the pharmaceutical industry.