Science Controversies
UK may reject strict EU GMO rules, but nation’s farmers can’t grow biotech crops yet
British farmers could get the chance to plant genetically modified crops as part of Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans. The new ...
Genetic sequencing of 50-year-old tissue sample boosts theory that HIV emerged 100 years ago
For more than 50 years, the RNA remained hidden in a lymph node that had been snipped out of a ...
Viewpoint: AI promises to revolutionize personalized medicine. Now we need ‘clinical validation’.
Machines can now be trained to see things humans cannot, and likely never will. ... From obviating the need to ...
Viewpoint: Stem cell therapies have potential, but commercial industry is ‘still shady, full of hype’
In case anyone was wondering, the commercial stem cell clinic business is still shady and full of hype, profiteering, and ...
Prime Minister Boris Johnson: Time to ‘liberate’ UK farming from EU’s anti-GMO rules
In his first prime ministerial speech [July 24], Boris Johnson called for a “liberation” of the U.K.’s bioscience sector after ...
‘Disease X’: Why there’s reason to fear an unknown pandemic threat
Disease X -- a yet unseen deadly infectious disease with an epidemic potential for which no countermeasures exist -- has ...
One year after EU decision to regulate CRISPR crops as GMOs, 120 research institutions call for updated plant breeding rules
Scientists from 120 European research institutions support an open statement [arguing] that crops created using gene-editing techniques should not be ...
Virus-resistant gene-edited tomato won’t be regulated as GMOs, USDA says
Gene-edited tomatoes that are resistant to common viruses can be introduced into the U.S. without coming under federal regulations for ...
Podcast: Does the Nobel Prize overlook important scientific achievements?
Nobel prizes are often seen as the pinnacle of scientific achievement. But are they a fair way of recognizing contributions ...
Ugandan farmers clamor for access to GMO crops—a year after parliament passes biosafety bill
Almost a year since the passing of the Genetic Engineering Regulatory Act (GERA), farmers are still waiting on the commercialization ...
Short on time, US regulators scramble to streamline CRISPR-edited plant, animal rules
All three of the federal agencies charged with regulating bioengineered plants and animals are looking at ways of streamlining regulations ...
Microbiome manipulation could improve our heart health, but it’s not a ‘magic solution’
“Is the fountain of youth in the gut microbiome?” This provocative question popped up a few months back, not in ...
Blockchain could help keep ‘counterfeit’ products out of organic, non-GMO certification schemes
More and more food products and beverages are branded and accompanied by a variety of certification schemes. For instance, organic ...
Viewpoint: Trump’s proposed drug price cap would threaten gene therapies, cell-based therapies by stifling innovation
President Trump has said he plans to issue an executive order to lower what the United States government would pay ...
Podcast: Battle to conquer HIV with biotechnology is on. How much progress have we made?
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is to blame for one of the worst public health crises the world has ever ...
Viewpoint: Genetically modified plants could produce drugs of the future—if we do more to encourage ‘pharming’
Politicians talk a lot about farming but seldom about “pharming,” even though the latter can also have a big impact ...
‘Cancer vaccine’ boosts survival rates when combined with immunotherapy drugs in small study
The largest study to date of a “cancer vaccine” plus one of the immunotherapy drugs that has revolutionized cancer treatment ...
EU food-testing labs must track unapproved CRISPR crop imports—but there’s no easy way to do it
A landmark European court ruling that made gene-edited crops subject to the same stringent regulations as other genetically modified organisms ...
‘Life-threatening’ unregulated at-home treatments sparked by research linking autism to gut bacteria
A growing number are experimenting with specialized diets, probiotics, stool transplants and parasites, trying to game the gut to address ...
African media urged to consider ‘national interest’ in reporting on GMOs
Journalists and scientists are urging African media to consider the “national interest” when reporting on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to ...
India’s anti-GMO activists claim biotech eggplant contains ‘poison’ in bid to end illegal crop cultivation
There is no scientific evidence to prove that genetically modified crops are unsafe, the Union Environment Ministry told [parliament on ...
Can’t lose weight? You may be able to blame this ‘cruel’ metabolic mechanism
In a study of former contestants on a season of the weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser, scientists found that ...
Why unproven alternative cancer treatments are so dangerous
Cancer is oppressive and all-pervasive: half of us alive today will experience a direct brush with it. But despite its ...
How man’s best friend is helping us battle cancer
[T]he Moonshot initiative is promoting new ways to study cancer, particularly in the promising area of immunotherapy. And it specifically ...
Trump executive order streamlines biotech regulations. Here’s what that means for agriculture
[In June], President Trump signed an Executive Order to streamline the complex maze of rules and policies that regulate agricultural ...
Viewpoint: Evidence for CBD oil as a miracle cure-all ‘isn’t impressive at all’
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is everywhere and seemingly in everything these days. It’s touted as a panacea for a massive range ...
Kenya to commercialize GMO Bt cotton by November 2019, official says
Kenya on [July 17] announced plans to start commercial growing of Bt cotton, or genetically modified (GM) cotton. Charles Waturu, ...
