Women can delay having their first Pap test for cervical cancer until they turn 21 and many can wait longer to go back for follow-up screenings, according to new guidelines released Friday by a major medical group. (Washington Post)

Beijing city government admits that the Chinese capital has a problem with illegal medical centres - known as black clinics. It closed down more than 3,300 of these unregulated and sometimes dangerous clinics last year alone. (BBC)

Embryonic stem cell therapy got a step closer to the clinic Thursday after US researchers said they filed a request for government approval of human trials. The trials would involve 12 patients losing their sight to a currently untreatable disease

In an unusual pushback against President Obama's expansion of federal financing of human embryonic stem cell research, the University of Nebraska is considering restricting its stem cell experiments to cell lines approved by President George W. Bush. (New York Times)

Plastic surgeons shriek as Democrats consider an excise tax on elective cosmetic procedures to raise funds for health reform. (BusinessWeek)

IBM's Blue Gene brain simulation has made gains in one of the most sophisticated tasks man has ever taken on—creating artificial intelligence (AI). With the true AI milestone comes the dawn of the singularity, when computers overtake humans. Contributing editor