All of item 1 + urls for longer items from New Scientist magazine, 09 December:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns22687
Human cloning will soon be a crime in Japan.

The Japanese parliament passed a law last week banning the creation of embryos from combining human eggs and non-reproductive cells, as well as mixing animal and human cells to create hybrid embryos. Anyone flouting the law could be punished by up to 10 years' imprisonment or a fine of $90,000. The legislation has yet to come into effect.

http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999237
The lab which cloned Dolly the sheep aims to engineer chickens which lay eggs containing anti-cancer drugs

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns22683
Patently ridiculous The biotech gold rush is making a mockery of the world patent system

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns226823
A wild gene chase The biggest ever study of genes and disease is being launched soon, but will the doctors involved be able to cope?