BioWorld International Correspondent (BioWorld) LONDON - There was a second and final rejection of the University of Wisconsin's infamous WARF human embryonic stem cell patent from the European Patent Organization (EPO) last week.

Governor's Christmas tree honors members of military (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) Susan Wallsch pulled two small ornaments out of their boxes Tuesday and hung them on a Christmas tree in the governor's mansion. It was the third tree she's trimmed this holiday season, but this evergreen has a special meaning - her two ornaments along with about 150 more are dedicated to Wisconsin military members.

Motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells provide insight into ALS (EurekAlert!) Two new research studies use motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells to demonstrate that multiple toxic pathways contribute to the devastating degeneration associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and that protective therapeutics will need to oppose the disease on multiple fronts. The separate studies, published by Cell Press in the December issue of the journal Cell Stem ...

Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball: UW locks down Hokies (Wisconsin State Journal) For the first 6 minutes Thursday night, the Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball team played some of its best offense of the season. But when it mattered most, the Badgers showed that defense is becoming their trademark this season. The Badgers held Virginia Tech without a field goal for 9 ½ minutes in the second half, a stretch that compensated for their own inadequacies on offense and led to a ...

Wisconsin's agricultural exports up 7 percent (AP via Yahoo! Finance) Wisconsin's agricultural exports increased 7 percent through the first nine months of 2008. Gov. Jim Doyle's office said Thursday that the $1.5 billion in exports is a record high for a nine-month period.

Wisconsin Salvation Army leader marrying outside organization will lose job, per agency rules (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune) OSHKOSH, Wis. - The leader of a Wisconsin Salvation Army will lose his job if he goes ahead with plans to marry outside the organization. Capt. Johnny Harsh of Oshkosh is engaged to a woman who's not affiliated with the Salvation Army. They're planning to marry in June.