Science Controversies
Patient asymptomatic in first documented COVID reinfection
In a paper accepted on [August 24] by the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, scientists from the University of Hong Kong ...
Here’s how to join a COVID-19 vaccine trial
Vaccine makers are going to need thousands of volunteer testers over the next few months. As with any clinical trial, ...
Saving the world: Global vaccine rescue plan rests with two nonprofits–COVAX Framework and Gates Foundation
[T]he United States launched Operation Warp Speed to secure 300 million doses by January 2021 for domestic consumption, and the European Union, ...
Science checking Trump’s touted convalescent plasma COVID treatment
President Trump announced [August 23] that he had helped break through a regulatory “logjam” to grant emergency authorization of convalescent ...
Redrawing the line between life and brain death
Brain death has been a recognized concept in medicine for decades. But there’s a lot of variation in how people ...
Stem cell transplants show promise as possible AIDS cure
[A study] demonstrated a successful stem cell transplantation from donors harboring an HIV-resistant gene. Blood taken from the patient revealed ...
Why flu vaccines don’t work for very long
A new study from a team from Emory Vaccine Center provides insights into why the flu vaccine’s immunity is shorter ...
Future pandemics: Where dangerous pathogens lie in wait
According to an international research team of Chinese, European, and U.S. scientists, the SARS-CoV-2 lineage responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Trump administration, CDC fumbling efforts to push back against vaccine deniers
While anti-vaxxers flood social media with lies about the upcoming coronavirus vaccine -- that it contains monkey brains, that it's ...
Podcast: Vaccines take years to develop? This one took 43 days
Most experts agree that the COVID19 pandemic will not end until a vaccine is available. But traditionally, vaccines take a decade ...
Federal government systematically shortchanging Black communities in distributing COVID aid
[A] study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that… funding inequities resulted from a formula that allocated large chunks of a ...
Vaccine danger? Rare complications after getting a shot could increase severity of COVID-19
Vaccines are designed to produce immune-system agents, including antibodies, that lock onto a virus and thereby neutralize it. In cases ...
Facebook, Twitter shut down sequel to viral COVID-19 misinformation video Plandemic
Major social-media platforms hindered the spread of a sequel to viral coronavirus conspiracy theory video “Plandemic” on [August 18], months ...
‘Will a COVID vaccine work on the grossly overweight? Our prediction is no’
[I]n the United States, where at least 4.6 million people have been infected and nearly 155,000 have died, the promise ...
Trump rebuff: Administration-backed Idaho law banning transgender athletes from participating in school sports that match their gender identity on hold
Idaho’s "Fairness in Women’s Sports Act" [that bars transgender women from participating in school sports] will now be on pause ...
Would you volunteer to get intentionally infected with COVID?
U.S. government scientists have begun efforts to manufacture a strain of the novel coronavirus that could be used in human ...
Bill Gates: ‘The majority of all US COVID-19 tests are completely garbage’
An early Cassandra who warned of our lack of preparedness for a global pandemic, [Bill Gates] became one of the most credible ...
$10 COVID saliva test with results in three hours approved for rollout
[A] new test, which is called SalivaDirect and was developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health, allows ...
Fewer infants test positive for the coronavirus. Understanding why could help all of us
The initial data suggest that infants make up a small fraction of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. A ...
Italy and Israel bet on GM microalgae to develop edible COVID vaccine
The rush to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 has extended to Italy and Israel, where scientists are using the tools ...
Stem cell tourism: Shady treatments are being offered–even in the United States
[W]e're just starting clinical trials to determine if we can use [stem] cells effectively. But that hasn't stopped people from ...
How we are developing a coronavirus vaccine so quickly
Just six months ago, when the death toll from the coronavirus stood at one and neither it nor the disease it caused had ...
35% of Americans say they will not get a FDA approved COVID vaccine even if free
With more indications that a vaccine could be close, the next question for health professionals, policymakers and political leaders will ...
FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn: ‘Decisions about approving vaccines will be based solely on good science’
The framework in the United States to support a covid-19 vaccine is now in place. Testing is underway and manufacturing ...
Sputnik V: Putin claims win in ‘vaccine race,’ as Russia registers first COVID-19 shot amid concerns it is compromising safety
Russia registered the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, President Vladimir Putin said, marking a milestone in the fight against the novel ...
Viewpoint: ‘Onerous’ regulations exacerbate consumer fear of gene-edited crops
....[T]he use of genetic engineering and gene editing to develop new crop varieties is well understood by the scientific community ...
Gene mutation makes some people more susceptible to the coronavirus
[R]esearch published in the Journal of the American Medical Association analysed variation of the genetic makeup of four young male patients ...
