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Editorial. Discusses the emergence of nanomedicine. Estimate by the U.S. National Science Foundation that the nanotechnology markets will be worth $1 trillion dollars by 2015; Allotment of funds for nanoresearch from the European Commission; List of various nanoinstruments and their applications; Reaction of consumer organisations to the risks of nanotechnology; Study which has been commissioned by the Office of Science and Technology to investigate the potential risks and benefits.

The author discusses the efforts of Sari Reisner, lead author of a paper in "The Lancet" magazine's first Series on transgender health to make transgender health visible. He mentions the concerns of Reisner in LGBT inequities with a focus on local, national, and global transgender. He also notes the participation of Reisner as part of the Trans Masculine Sexual Health Collaborative, a 2-year-long research project funded by the U.S. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has proposed that ethical oversight and review of cancer clinical trials be done by central review boards instead of the institutional review boards (IRB) of individual institutions. The society also announced tough new conflict of interest guidelines that expand disclosure requirements for researchers submitting abstracts and papers to ASCO meetings and publications and severely limit the financial interest leaders of trials can have in companies and products involved in the studies. The ASCO taskforce found that many local IRBs are being overwhelmed by the increasing numbers of trials and the complexity of their design. ASCO hopes to begin with centralised reviews of all trials being done by the US National Cancer Institute's (NCI) cancer cooperative group trials. In addition, people holding leadership roles, including principal investigators, members of the trial's executive committee, members of the data safety monitoring board, in trials will be prohibited from having any substantial financial conflicts of interest including holding or receiving stock in the trial sponsor, royalties or licensing fees related to the product or treatment under investigation, patents for the product or treatment, positions as an officer, board of directors' member, or employee of the trial sponsor.

Presents medical news briefs for the week leading up to May 27, 2000. Legislation protecting participants in United States medical trials; Japanese initiative to improve medical care in remote parts of the country; Series of mock terrorist attacks by the US federal government designed to test responses of local authorities; Call for a ban in Austria of diapers that contain tributyl tin (TBT).