BIOSCI http://www.bio.net/     BIOSCI is a set of electronic communications forums - the bionet USENET newsgroups used by biologists worldwide. The newsgroups cover a very wide area of interest, but not all are very active. These are also not moderated newsgroups and so can be cluttered by spammers. However, the discussions of specific areas can be quite wonderful to look in on. In particular, the newsgroup Methods-Reagents is extremely active and focuses on technical problems in the lab. Take note - this group is for active lab scientists. Asking a question like "how do I clone a gene?" is unlikely to gather you much sympathy. But if you are working in a lab and having problems getting a good yield in your ligation reaction, this is one place to turn for advice.     There are two components to the newsgroups: 1) The current postings; 2) The archives: You can search the back discussions using keywords. This search is not very accurate, but it can let you know what has been discussed in the past (best to use this before posting a new question). Bionet also allows you to search the tables of contents from a variety of 82 journals.         Annual Reviews http://biomedical.annualreviews.org/       Annual Reviews publishes detailed and extensive reviews each year in biochemistry, biophysics, microbiology, physiology, physical chemistry, nutrition, genetics, and a number of other fields. This site allows you to search all the back issues of Annual Reviews. A very useful tool, however, these reviews are written for scientists already familiar with the field and can be pretty intense.         The Foundation for Genetic Medicine http://www.geneticmedicine.org       This site provides a link to a search engine which allows you access to all the DNA-based patents issued from 1980 through 1997. Previously, patent searches were inconvenient and expensive, but now you can easily gain access to what has been patented. Patents can be searched by keyword, sequence, or inventor.         CMS Molecular Biology Resource http://www.unl.edu/stc-95/ResTools/cmshp.html       This website is a compendium of electronic and Internet-accessible tools and resources for molecular biology, biotechnology, molecular evolution, and biomolecular modeling. It provides an excellent set of links to a variety of tools and sites. It is also maintained and current!         RasMol Molecular Modeling Software http://www.umass.edu/microbio/rasmol/       This is the homepage for the RasMol molecular modeling software. This program (and a Web version called CHIME) can be downloaded free from this site which also provides a variety of tutorials on how to use the program to learn about protein structure.         Vermont SIRI MSDS Collection http://siri.uvm.edu/msds/       Use the Vermont SIRI MSDS Collection for when you want information on health and safety aspects of specific chemicals. This site is a good place to start and has links to a variety of other MSDS archives.