Corrections and clarifications.
The ScienceScope item "NIH shakeup continues" (29 Oct., p. 643) incorrectly described the position of Francis Collins, director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, on the National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) decision 2 years ago to file for patents on gene fragments of unknown function. Collins does not believe it was appropriate for NIH to file for the patents in the first place, but since the applications have been filed, he now believes they should be pursued to a conclusion in order to clarify whether such gene fragments are patentable.