Science Controversies
Patient’s ‘serious’ kidney injury halts gene therapy trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
The Food and Drug Administration has halted a clinical trial involving a Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy from Solid Biosciences ...
New gene-edited canola variety resists deadly disease, expected to drastically boost crop yields
Three new traits for canola, which can increase crop yields and reduce harmful environmental impacts, has been developed by Cibus, ...
Viewpoint: We can stop the infertility ‘guessing game’ by tapping into new tools, including noninvasive testing for endometriosis
Without understanding the root cause of infertility, treating it often becomes a guessing game. For doctors to effectively aid a ...
Viewpoint: AI can revolutionize drug development if we can learn to trust it
The pharmaceutical industry is facing a crisis is R&D. About 50% of late-stage clinical trials fail due to ineffective drug targets, ...
Viewpoint: Most Americans ‘woefully underprepared’ for bioethical decisions, including when to remove a loved one from life support
Many Americans will face some form of significant medical decision-making during their lifetimes, either for themselves or for their loved ...
Futurist Jamie Metzl: How genetic engineering could help us live longer
Jamie Metzl is a technology and healthcare futurist and geopolitical expert, novelist, entrepreneur, media commentator, and Senior Fellow of the Atlantic ...
Keto diet as a cancer treatment? Researchers explore potential to treat diseases, seizures
[S]cientists have known for decades that the keto diet can prevent epileptic seizures even when pharmaceutical treatments have failed. But ...
GMO insect-resistant corn poses no risk to human health, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) risk assessment affirms
Following the submission of application .... from Bayer Agriculture BVBA, the EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) was ...
Viewpoint: Moving forward with human gene editing requires scientists to ‘educate, engage, and empower’ the public, policymakers
Researchers have long struggled to draw a line around ethical genome editing. While modifications to somatic cells only affect a single individual, ...
5 classic American foods CRISPR gene editing could protect from climate change, declining yields
Football is back.... Here are five tailgating classics that gene editing could improve: Beer Anyone who has ever watched Super ...
EU Parliament Environment Committee opposes ‘undemocratic’ plan to import glyphosate-tolerant GMOs
The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament .... opposed the European Commission’s plans to authorize ...
Measles wreaks havoc on body’s immune system, making it susceptible to other infections, study shows
Measles wages war on cells of the immune system. Now two tallies of the carnage, described in the Nov. 1 Science and Science ...
Viewpoint: ‘Denouncing’ HBO, Bill Maher for helping Dr. Jay Gordon spread vaccine misinformation
Dr. Jay Gordon (who usually likes to be called “Dr. Jay”) and I go back a long time, ever since I ...
Animal safety concerns prompt FDA to halt study testing Zolgensma gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy
The Food and Drug Administration has halted a clinical trial of Novartis’ Zolgensma gene therapy due to a safety concern ...
‘Time to finish the job’: One wild polio strain stands in the way of eradication of the disease
The international effort to achieve [polio eradication] passed a major milestone [recently] with the worldwide eradication of wild poliovirus type ...
New investment rules would limit shareholder advocacy attempts to influence company stance on GMOs, climate change
The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission formally proposed a new rule on [November 6] that could make it harder for ...
Viewpoint: New antibiotics won’t save us from drug-resistant bacterial infections
Of course, there is an ongoing search for new safe and effective antibiotics, but agents are very difficult to find ...
China’s new seaweed-based Alzheimer’s therapy raises hopes—and questions about safety, effectiveness
Chinese regulators have granted conditional approval to an Alzheimer’s drug that is derived from seaweed, potentially shaking up the field ...
77% of Generation Z willing to eat CRISPR, GMO-derived foods, new report shows
Members of Generation Z — those born between 1995 and 2010 — are the most willing to try foods produced ...
Infographic: No country is prepared for a pandemic, report says
After an Ebola epidemic devastated West Africa in 2014, many countries took steps to boost their preparedness. But even as the risk ...
Analyzing first fecal transplant death: Donor stool wasn’t tested for rare E. coli strain
This spring, a 73-year-old man with a rare blood condition became the first person to die from drug-resistant bacteria found ...
Will the EU reverse its block on CRISPR crops? Rebel countries urge regulators to reconsider legal status of gene editing
The EU Council will ask the Commission to conduct a study into the “status of novel genomic techniques” for plants ...
Is experimental Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab being resurrected based on ‘bad’ data?
I worked on and around aducanumab, an experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s, for years during my time at Biogen. I thought ...
Identifying potential Ebola ‘hot spots’ with new tools could prevent future outbreaks
More than 2,000 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo since an Ebola outbreak was declared last August, ...
Viewpoint: Global moratorium on human gene editing ‘inadvisable’ for 3 reasons, including potential research delays
Heritable genome editing (HGE) of the human germline has potential as a niche assisted reproductive technology. If it can be ...
EU food safety commissioner: Ban on GMO crop imports could spell ‘disaster’ for Europe’s economy
The fight against the importation of genetically-modified (GM) feed or food in Europe has been labelled as “scaremongering” and “a ...
The man who was always drunk, but never drank alcohol: Scientists unwrap the mystery of ‘auto-brewery syndrome’
After years of inexplicably getting drunk without drinking alcohol, having mood swings and bouts of aggression, landing a DWI charge ...
