Medical Regs & Ethics
Is FDA-backed ‘Viagra’ for women a step towards gender equality in medicine?
After an intense lobbying campaign, a federal advisory panel recommended approval of what would become the first drug to treat ...
Glowing bacteria detect diabetes, cancer in patients’ urine
A Stanford-designed project has built a startling new tool for diagnostic medicine: living biosensors made of bacteria that glow a ...
DNA, the ‘devious defecator’ and the right to genetic privacy
A poop paternity test may set legal precedents on privacy in the workplace ...
‘My genes made me do it: An excuse for infidelity that your spouse shouldn’t believe
Media have a tendency to hype studies that link individual genes to behavioral effects. Recent news surrounding connections between the ...
National academies move to design regulations on germline editing
The National Academies of Science (NAS) and National Academies of Medicine (NAM) have their work cut out for them as ...
Are concerns over danger of CRISPR eclipsing potential benefits?
CRISPR is causing a major upheaval in biomedical research. Unlike other gene-editing methods, it is cheap, quick and easy to ...
Anti-GMO bungle: Claim GM genes pass from food into blood collapses
In 2013, when PLoS One published a research paper, Complete Genes May Pass from Food to Human Blood, anti-GMO activists ...
‘Quack science’ NaturalNews website blames glyphosate for Beau Biden’s cancer death
Yes, glioblastomas (and other forms of brain cancer) are nasty tumors. They’re one of the kinds of tumors that, admittedly, ...
White House tackles antibiotic resistance at first ever summit
Representatives of more than 150 health care organizations, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies federal health agencies and food-production interests met at ...
Vermont medical centers ditch GMOs over alleged safety concerns
University of Vermont Medical Center serves two million meals a year, and is a national leader in purchasing, preparing and ...
Public discussion on germline editing vital, but what should be discussed?
Human germline genetic modification, which involves making genetic changes that will be passed on to future generations, is once again ...
Pharmaceutical companies join forces to advance precision medicine in cancer treatment
The National Cancer Institute is launching a major trial in which it will play matchmaker between 1,000 advanced cancer patients ...
Assisted reproduction technologies can’t delay adulthood
All too frequently, I am faced with breaking bad news to disappointed couples in their early 40s who expected IVF ...
The Case for GMOs and Sustainability
From conventional breeding to mutagenesis, none of our foods that we eat today is the product of Nature’s way. But ...
Microbes engineered to sniff out tumors and diabetes
Two groups of synthetic biologists seeking to repurpose living microbes for human benefit have reported genetically modifying bacteria to detect ...
Verdict on ‘devious defecator’ case: Employees protected from genetic discrimination
The case that experts believe is the first to go to trial under the law involves something completely different: an ...
Epigenetics might explain relapse in patients of substance addiction
One of the major challenges of cocaine addiction is the high rate of relapse after periods of withdrawal and abstinence ...
National Academies gear up to discuss human gene editing implications
The National Academies of Science (NAS) and National Academies of Medicine (NAM) have their work cut out for them as ...
Researchers genetically engineer E.coli bacteria to detect cancer and diabetes
In two articles published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers reported they had equipped E. coli bacteria with ...
Arm chair geneticists looking for enlightenment could provide useful data
People who sequence their genomes don’t hinder public health; they offer an opportunity for free data. We should capitalize on ...
Has the Age of Genomics been oversold?
We live in an age of hype. But the overselling of the Age of Genomics — the hype about the ...
White House asks scientists to hold off on editing the human genome
Scientists should hold off on experiments that could permanently alter people's DNA and pass the changes along to future generations, ...
Breast cancer genetic tests without clinical validity should not be offered, researchers say
A group of international researchers is making the case that genetic tests that look for multiple hereditary genes suspected of ...
Golden Rice in India: Is it necessary? What are impediments to adoption?
The leading cause of life-altering disability in India is health risks linked to poor diets--which rice engineered to produce vitamin ...
GMO myth busting: Crops (and humans) safely composed of ‘foreign’ genes
A central canon of GMO critics is the belief that transgenics--transferring genes from one species to another--represents a 'crime against ...
Tampering with nature is how humans can avoid extinction
Technology causes problems and yes we've been irresponsible to the very environment that keeps us alive. But it can also ...
‘Natural’ illusions: Biologist’s failed attempt to defend organic food
Swedish writer trained in biology had embraced organic food and farming for years as a safer and healthier alternative to ...
