His advisers insist that Mr Obama is too clever to usher in a new age of over-regulation, that he will stop such nonsense getting out of Congress, that he is a political chameleon who would move to the centre in Washington.

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Enthralled by Mother Nature from a very early age, Dr Anna Git later became particularly interested in the regulation of RNA metabolism in development and disease.

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Nonetheless Andy Whitmore, the company's marketing director, said it would "welcome regulation that ensures the product can't be sold to anyone under the age of 18".

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