Science Controversies
Max Planck Society backs CRISPR crops, rejects human germline editing
As an organization of basic research, the Max Planck Society bears a special responsibility for the use of new scientific ...
Eugenics offers a warning about the perils of scientists chasing a brighter future at the ‘cost of innocent individual lives’
We tend to associate eugenics with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but it was in fact developed in London. Its ...
CRISPR pigs can survive deadly disease, but regulatory uncertainty slows development
Cutting-edge gene-editing techniques such as Crispr-Cas9 will enable scientists to make precise genetic changes to pig physiology, they say, leading ...
FDA-approved edible cotton could help meet global protein demand
The US Food and Drug Administration announced this month that a genetically modified cottonseed has been approved for human consumption ...
‘Really tough decision’: What should doctors do when genetic testing reveals that dad isn’t the child’s biological father?
The child was critically ill. The treating team at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, was stumped and worried that ...
Judge blocks Tofurky injunction of Missouri plant-based meat labeling restrictions
Turtle Island Foods, doing business as The Tofurky Company (“Tofurky”) which produces plant-based products, together with The Good Food Institute ...
Blaming overdiagnosis of cancer on ‘irrational exuberance’: Are we too concerned about early detection?
Even though overall mortality from cancer is falling, the overall incidence is rising. The declines in lung, stomach, cervical, and ...
Food industry splinters on GMO labeling, plant-based products in scramble to meet changing consumer demands
The trillion-dollar food industry was once unified and used to getting its way in the Swamp through the collective might ...
Podcast: 4 CRISPR experts on how gene editing is changing the future of food
You've probably heard the hype: CRISPR will revolutionize biotech .... But what is CRISPR—and what's it doing in our food? ...
Animals enhanced with human brain cells—and robust levels of consciousness—create new ethical dilemmas
Neuroscientist Isaac Chen from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, along with his colleagues, has written ...
Blood test reveals epigenetic modifications that could predict life-threatening type 2 diabetes complications
Chronically high blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes can damage tissues throughout the body, such as the nerves, eyes, ...
‘Why didn’t we think of this earlier?’ Immunotherapy could treat more than just cancer
Immunotherapy has transformed cancer care. Now the tools and new knowledge created by this strategy for treating disease by stimulating ...
Merging man and machine: Tiny DNA nanomachines control biology, fight cancer
Chemistry isn’t king when it comes to governing our bodies; physical forces are similarly powerful. The problem is how to ...
Controversy over gene-edited cow’s ‘surprise DNA’ could slow efforts to promote animal welfare
On the morning of August 7, Alison Van Eenennaam awoke to a tweet from a man she had never met ...
Man with at least 17 children sues fertility clinic for being ‘incredibly irresponsible’ with his sperm
An Oregon doctor filed a $5.25 million lawsuit [October 2] against a fertility clinic at the Oregon Health & Science ...
CRISPR-edited foods could hit grocery stores in Japan by late 2019
Genetically modified food products using a specific kind of technology may hit store shelves in Japan within this year amid ...
Anti-vaccine movement, spurred by internet-based rumors and misinformation
As millions of families face back-to-school medical requirements and forms this month, the contentiousness surrounding vaccines is heating up again, ...
Offspring of gene-edited, hornless dairy bull born healthy, study confirms
This technology has been proposed as an alternative to dehorning, a common management practice performed to protect other cattle and ...
Forget fecal transplants—vaginal fluid swaps could ‘revolutionize’ women’s health
In the afterglow of successful fecal transplants, researchers are now sniffing around vaginal fluids for the next possible bodily product ...
Science journals should publish negative results to speed technological advances, CRISPR expert urges
Near the end of April, my colleagues and I published an unusual scientific paper — one reporting a failed experiment ...
Viewpoint: How organic, non-GMO marketing turned food labels into ‘wild west’ of deceptive advertising
Food labels these days are like the Wild West of dishonest advertising. Plant juice can be called milk, steak can ...
Viewpoint: We aren’t ready for biomarkers that could predict how long we’ll live
Over the past several years, scientists have identified four genetic and molecular biomarkers that potentially predict human and animal longevity ...
Kenya endorses ‘case-by-case’ GMO crop approval process
In a development that has ignited optimism among companies and organizations that front for the adoption of GM crops, Kenya ...
This winter’s flu vaccine may not be ‘optimally protective’. We could be in for a rough season.
Twice a year influenza experts meet at the World Health Organization to pore over surveillance data provided by countries around ...
Viewpoint: Genetically modified oats don’t exist—so why does Bob’s Red Mill sell ‘non-GMO sourced’ oats?
Quick oats, old-fashioned oats, steel cut oats, rolled oats. The oats market is booming. But you know what isn’t? Genetically ...
Viewpoint: The key to ethical human germline editing is ‘slow science’
The hubris of some scientists knows no bounds. Less than a year after He Jiankui, a Chinese biophysicist, drew scorn ...
Switching to a new polio vaccine was supposed to be a step forward. Now some experts suggest going back
Three years ago, the leaders of the international campaign to eradicate polio pulled off a landmark feat, phasing out a problematic ...
