Nature Education Announces Founding Sponsorships

CAMBRIDGE, MA, Apr 06 (MARKET WIRE) --
Nature Education, the educational wing of global science publisher Nature
Publishing Group (NPG), today announced that founding partners Roche
Applied Science, Tata Consultancy Services, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and
New England Biolabs have pledged substantial financial sponsorship to
Scitable, Nature Education's free online science library for the global
educational community. The combined sponsorship signifies the companies'
commitment to support NPG's goal of making high-quality digital science
education broadly available to college and high school students in every
country of the world.

"These organizations recognize that the future of their industries -- and
the societies within which they operate -- depends on raising the breadth
and quality with which we train and retain young scientists in every
region of the world," said Vikram Savkar, Senior Vice President &
Publishing Director at Nature Publishing Group. "They are demonstrating
clear and material dedication to the cause by underwriting cost-free
student access to our high quality educational content, filling a
critical resource gap in many regions."

Scitable draws upon Nature Publishing Group's 140-year strength in
scientific research publishing to provide a library of authoritative
educational information, ranging from introductory, media-rich online
courses to advanced articles combining summaries of milestone research
papers with thorough explanations of key concepts. Scitable also provides
a comprehensive suite of educational tools designed to help faculty
immerse students in the library, including virtual classrooms and
learning paths, as well as a collaborative network of scientists,
teachers, journalists, students, and lifelong-learners who can connect
for discussion, mentorship, and informal instruction. Since its launch in
January 2009, Scitable's library -- currently focused on the field of
genetics -- has been used by more than a million students and faculty in
110 countries.

As sponsors, participating companies underwrite cost-free access to
chosen areas of the site on behalf of the global student community. Roche
Applied Science, a producer of reagents and systems for life sciences, is
sponsoring student access to the Genes and Disease section. "Our
commitment to the development of research tools for breakthrough
scientific discovery has always been tied to Roche's dedication to
improving the quality of human life," said Manfred Baier, Head of Roche
Applied Science. "Our partnership with Nature Education on Scitable is in
line with our continued efforts to expand access to the research tools
and scientific information which will help young scientists succeed in
expanding our knowledge."

Tata Consultancy Services, a provider of technology-based solutions to
the healthcare and publishing industries, is sponsoring access to the
Evolutionary Genetics and Population Genetics areas and partnered with
Nature Education to develop advanced online collaboration tools. "Usage
of social platforms can greatly aid innovation in the sciences,
healthcare, education, and media sectors. Our partnership with Nature
Education on Scitable is an example of how social technologies can
fundamentally expand the reach and impact of the education sector," said
Kamal Bhadada, VP and Head of Media and Information Services for Tata
Consultancy Services.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals will be launch sponsors of a forthcoming unit on
RNAi, the technology at the heart of Alnylam's success in developing
innovative therapeutics. "Alnylam is committed to furthering the
advancement of science on a global scale and across all levels of
education," said John Maraganore, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals. "We are delighted to be partnering with Nature Education
on Scitable, and applaud them for the initiative they have demonstrated
in establishing this important program. Our scientists look forward to
sharing their insight and expertise in areas such as RNAi therapeutics,
as well as learning from the Scitable community."

New England Biolabs, a provider of reagents to the life science industry,
will be launch sponsors for forthcoming units on restriction enzymes and
related topics. "One of the founding principles of New England Biolabs is
the advancement of science and education. We are pleased to be a part of
Nature Education's Scitable and feel that it will become an invaluable
tool for future generations of scientists," said Andy Bertera, Director
of Marketing.

"Science teachers have been asking for digital science education
resources that unite all of the sciences in one space, incorporate a
research-based perspective, allow class-by-class customization, and are
accessible to all students," said Savkar. "Today, through the support of
our sponsors, we have taken an important step towards making that a full
reality."

Future plans for Nature Education involve expanding Scitable's content
library across other fields in the life and physical sciences and
developing a mobile site extending access to the library to smartphones.

For more information about Scitable, visit www.nature.com/scitable. For
more information about Scitable's founding sponsors, visit
www.nature.com/scitable/sponsors.

About Nature Education
Nature Education, the educational division of
Nature Publishing Group, is dedicated to developing innovative science
education resources for undergraduate and high school science students
and faculty. In 2009, Nature Education launched Scitable, an openly
accessible collaborative online teaching and learning space for science.
For more information, visit www.nature.com/scitable.

About Nature Publishing Group
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a
publisher of high impact scientific and medical information in print and
online. NPG publishes journals, online databases, and services across the
life, physical, chemical, and applied sciences and clinical medicine,
including Nature (founded in 1869), the leading weekly, international
scientific journal, and Scientific American, the oldest continuously
published magazine in the US and the leading authoritative publication
for science in the general media. Online, nature.com provides over 5
million visitors per month with access to NPG publications and online
databases and services. Part of Macmillan Publishers Limited, NPG is a
global company with principal offices in London, New York, and Tokyo, and
offices in cities worldwide including Boston, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Hong
Kong, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Heidelberg, Basingstoke, Melbourne,
Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, and Washington DC. For more information,
visit www.nature.com.

About Roche Applied Science
Roche Applied Science, a business area of
Roche Diagnostics, is a leading producer of reagents and systems for life
science research. The company's product portfolio and capabilities in
genomics and cell biology, including next-generation sequencing, high
density microarrays, real-time PCR, and real-time label-free cellular
analysis, are enlarging the life science knowledge pool and transforming
society's understanding of disease. For more information, visit
www.roche-applied-science.com.

About Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT
services, business solutions, and outsourcing organization that delivers
real results to global businesses, ensuring a level of certainty no other
firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT
and IT-enabled services delivered through its unique Global Network
Delivery Model(TM), recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software
development. A part of the Tata Group, India's largest industrial
conglomerate, TCS has over 140,000 of the world's best trained IT
consultants in 42 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues
of US $6 billion for fiscal year ended 31 March 2009 and is listed on the
National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more
information, visit www.tcs.com.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company
developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. Alnylam
is leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines
with peer-reviewed research efforts published in the world's top
scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine, and Cell. The
company is leveraging these capabilities to build a broad pipeline of
RNAi therapeutics; its most advanced program is in Phase II human
clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
infection. In addition, the company is developing RNAi therapeutics for
the treatment of a wide range of disease areas, including liver cancers,
TTR-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), hypercholesterolemia, and Huntington's
disease. For more information, please visit www.alnylam.com.

About New England Biolabs
Established in mid-1970s, New England Biolabs,
Inc. leads the industry in the discovery and production of enzymes for
molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of
recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to
expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression,
cellular analysis, markers and ladders, competent cells, and RNA
analysis. For more information, visit www.neb.com.

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