Science Controversies
Post Brexit, UK prepares to separate itself from anti-GMO and anti-gene editing farm policy at upcoming WTO summit
Downing Street is preparing to break away from the EU on food safety at an upcoming WTO summit, in yet ...
Viewpoint: FDA creating mess in its mishandling of animal gene editing regulations: Leave oversight to the USDA
Gene editing, under FDA regulation, faces an impractical, lengthy and expensive approval process, said National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president, ...
‘It’s the wild west out there’: Courts frequently use controversial psychological tests
A third of the psychological tests used in US court proceedings aren’t generally accepted by experts in the field, a ...
CRISPR technology opens door to vertical farming of dozens of crops, from strawberries and cucumbers to mango and almond trees
Do you want it locally grown, water-saving and pesticide-free? Urban agriculture might suit you, with a little help from gene ...
Deadly Ebola virus could be used against glioblastoma and other relentless brain tumors
Glioblastomas, in particular, are relentless and hard to treat. And while the world has its attention fixated on coronavirus, researchers ...
Viewpoint: AI could guide us in understanding which cancer patients likely to benefit from expensive immunotherapy
Over the last decade, significant advances in research, education, early detection methods and treatment have boosted cancer survival rates while ...
Predicting the next coronavirus outbreak by mining genetic databases
Search “coronavirus” on GenBank, a public repository for genomes, and today you’ll find more than 35,000 sequences. Alpaca coronaviruses. Hedgehog coronaviruses ...
From low-gluten wheat to virus-resistant cacao, CRISPR can enhance our favorite foods
Ever since its discovery, there has been no looking back for CRISPR .... Aside from tomato, strawberry, banana, grape, apple, ...
Can you buy a synthetic version of the deadly 1918 influenza? There’s no law against it—and that has security experts worried
In the past few years, something new has become possible in biology: cheaply “printing” DNA for insertion into a cell ...
Following Golden Rice approval, Philippines poised to implement rules to accommodate GMO animals, CRISPR crops
The Philippines continues to be a regional biotechnology leader. Golden Rice (GR2E) field tests were harvested in October 2019 and ...
We can eliminate cervical cancer by 2038
A preventable cancer might be virtually eradicated in the U.S. within the next two decades, according to a new study out ...
‘Simple blood test’ could give us an early warning system for cancer
As of 2020, there are now targeted therapy drugs for 30 kinds of cancer. As part of this whirlwind of innovation, ...
Mysterious Brazilian virus made largely of genes never seen illustrates ‘how much we still need to understand’ about microorganisms
Viruses are some of the world’s smallest life-forms – and the jury is still out as to whether they actually ...
Viewpoint: President Trump should end FDA-USDA turf war over animal gene-editing regulation to foster innovation
In more than two decades, only one biotechnology food animal has been approved for production and sale in the United ...
Why China scientist’s CRISPR baby scandal won’t be the last ethical ‘grenade’ for human gene editing
Over the next two years, via a series of stakeholder meetings and online consultations, talks with ethicists, academics, patient groups, ...
‘It’s the Wild West’: Consumer DNA test cracks another cold case. Why are privacy advocates worried?
It was January 1980 when 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski was found raped, bound and stabbed to death in an empty field ...
Transgenic GMOs will remain banned in Italy, agriculture minister says, but cisgenic gene editing could help sustain nation’s crop diversity
Italy’s agricultural minister Teresa Bellanova has expressed an interest in developing sustainable biotechnology, in the light of a milestone agreement ...
GMO crop, animal production ban necessary to safeguard Russia’s food security, says President Vladimir Putin
On January 21, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new Food Security Doctrine for Russia to replace the Doctrine ...
Unconventional drug ‘lottery’ will hand out 50 doses of Zolgensma, world’s most expensive gene therapy
The lottery that began [recently] was not about money, or about choosing a school, or about obtaining a visa. It ...
Vision implant skips the eyes and goes directly to the brain of blind people
[Bernardeta] Gómez was given a six-month window during which she could see a very low-resolution semblance of the world represented ...
Time to regulate plant-based meat labels? Fewer than half of consumers know vegan ‘beef’ is animal free, survey shows
Fewer than half of consumers understand that "plant-based beef" is entirely vegan, according to a study from the National Cattlemen's ...
900 gene therapy drugs are in the pipeline. How does the FDA want to regulate them?
To date, the FDA has approved four gene therapy products, which insert new genetic material into a patient’s cells. The ...
EU review of strict CRISPR crop rules dominated by biotech industry, anti-GMO groups allege
The EU is launching a consultation as part of an info-gathering exercise for a Commission study on “the status of ...
Viewpoint: We can’t trust research about the benefits of marijuana if the studies are industry funded
Imagine that scientists charged with doing research on tobacco’s health implications were funded by tobacco companies. (In fact, the tobacco ...
This can ‘never ever’ happen again: Cleveland fertility clinic sued over 4,000 lost eggs
Almost two years ago, a freezer malfunction at an Ohio fertility clinic may have destroyed hundreds of patients' chances at ...
If China’s coronavirus isn’t contained soon, we may be stuck with it permanently
With the new coronavirus spreading from person to person (possibly including from people without symptoms), reaching four continents, and traveling faster than ...
Viewpoint: Coronavirus fears spark claims of ‘bogus remedies’ from alternative medicine peddlers
The news is full of alarming reports about the new coronavirus that originated in China and is spreading throughout the ...
