I should have done this right in the beginning, but, well, better late than never. Over at ProBlogger, Dr. Hsien Lei of the Genetics and Health Blog encourages health and medical bloggers to answer this set of questions posed by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is under the umbrella of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. By answering these questions, I am providing you readers information to help you gauge the reliability and trustworthiness of the information you read in this weblog. So here goes...

1. Who runs this site? This weblog is one of the currently 50 or so blogs being run by the Creative-Weblogging Network. I am the editor of this weblog, so most entries are written by me. From time to time, the Biotech Weblog also publishes contributions from guest authors. All these information are indicated on the sidebars. Just click for more information.

2. Who pays for the site? The site is maintained by Creative Weblogging and generate revenue from the Ads that you see, mostly from Google Ads. Would you like to advertise or sponsor a space? It never happened yet, but I could also write sponsored posts, such as advertisements for events and such. In such cases, it will be explicitly indicated as being a sponsored post. For more info on advertising, contact Nicole at nicole@creative-weblogging.com.

3. What is the purpose of the site? This weblog stemmed out of my personal interest in Biotechnology. It is a collection of the latest news and breakthroughs, as well as business trends in Biotech. Based on the feedback I've been getting, the content of this weblog has proven interesting and useful thus far to scientists, students, medical practitioners, biotech consultants and others interested in science and biotechnology.

4. Where does the information come from? Content is based on news and articles published in peer-reviewed journals, company/university press releases, and online newspapers. Whenever possible, I try to get to the original sources. All pertinent references are indicated as outbound links, to lead readers to the sources, or further information. I also pick up story leads that tackle Biotechnology from other blogs and blog carnivals. Guest authors also folow the same practice of indicating references.

5. What is the basis of the information? Most posts are based on the original documents/press releases, paraphrased to make it easy reading. Most of the entries are written by me, and I intend to deliver facts as I understood it. I sincerely hope not to mislead, and where my knowledge falls short, or where I may have interpreted something falsely, I hope you, readers, will be quick to point it out.

6. How is the information selected? I choose the topics that are interesting to, well, me, first and foremost. Other bases: timeliness of the topic, my perception of what would be interesting to the public, and the source.

7. How current is the information? Because Biotech is a fast paced field, most posts in this blog are about news and breakthroughs that have been made public recently, "recently" ranging from a few hours to about a couple of weeks prior to time of posting.

8. How does the site choose links to other sites? All links are relevant and indicated with the purpose of leading readers to other noteworthy information. None of the outbound links (in entries or the recommended links I 've indicated in the middle column) asked, or paid, to be linked.

9. What information about you does the site collect, and why? Creative Weblogging is strongly committed to protect your privacy while you interact with our content. You may be required to leave a name when leaving comments, for example, but we will never use information you provided other than the purpose for which you provided it. For more specific information, see Creative Weblogging's privacy policy.

10. How does the site manage interactions with visitors? All readers are encouraged to leave comments after each entry. Each visitor may also opt to subscribe to RSS feeds or to weekly newsletters (scroll down the middle column and enter your email address to receive newsletters). I also welcome tips and story leads. You may send us an email at tips@creative-weblogging.com or directly to me at ruth@creative-weblogging.com.

I hope that these questions have proven that this weblog is intended only to provide the freshest news and trends in Biotechnology. No dark motives, I swear! :)