Science Controversies
Synthetic marijuana has a real problem: Nobody knows what’s in it
[Recently], more than 70 people overdosed on the synthetic marijuana known as K2 during a single 24 hour period in New Haven, ...
GMO critics in Germany seeking special tax in bid for greater control over biotech offerings
With a new initiative, NGOs in Germany are seeking authority over the approval of biotechnology products such as pharmaceuticals and ...
Viewpoint: Drug developers are abandoning current Alzheimer’s patients. Why is no one complaining?
Although the latest analysis of experimental Alzheimer’s drugs finds that literally zero are being tested in late-stage clinical trials to treat moderate ...
3 ways artificial intelligence is tackling cancer
Case Study 1: The Sharing Project … [Jinghui Zhang wondered] how much faster cancer research could move if data sets ...
Harnessing the body’s electrical system to help it heal
Scientists like Michael Levin of Tufts University have discovered that cellular charges control how and where a structure forms in ...
UK could retain Europe’s strict regulations on GMO crops following Brexit
In a position paper, [published August 23rd] the government said that EU GMO rules would continue to apply in the U.K ...
Approval of marijuana treatment for epilepsy could be boost for autism research
The United States has approved, for the first time, a compound derived from marijuana to treat certain types of epilepsy ...
Can we fine-tune drug doses with the help of artificial intelligence?
Patients with glioblastoma, a malignant tumor in the brain or spinal cord, typically live no more than five years after ...
Corporate support for anti-GMO advocacy groups is growing. Do companies know what their money is funding?
Many corporations provide funding to environmental groups and the level of funding has been growing .... Corporate funding of environmental ...
Following America’s lead, Japan won’t regulate gene-edited crops as GMOs
A government panel has decided not to regulate some genome editing procedures. The latest technology involves changing an organism's genomes ...
Matching the experts: New AI system proves adept at diagnosing eye problems
A new machine-learning system is as good as the best human experts at detecting eye problems and referring patients for ...
Viewpoint: German regulators shouldn’t trust Testbiotech and other anti-biotech ‘lobbyists’ to guide public about CRISPR gene editing
Yes, it is important to inform the public about the opportunities and risks of new genetic engineering techniques—but not by ...
USDA patents provide glimpse of coming GMO and bioengineered food labels
On August 7, 2018, USDA filed six new bioengineered food symbols with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, to “certify ...
‘Very reassuring’: Vaccinating pregnant women does not increase risk of autism in children
New research has shown that a common childhood vaccination given to pregnant women does not put their children at any increased ...
Mainstream medicine? US health officials want to ease restrictions on gene therapy experiments
U.S. health officials are eliminating special regulations for gene therapy experiments, saying that what was once exotic science is quickly ...
Viewpoint: Federal regulators should clamp down on ‘misleading’ non-GMO advertising
For a long time, American consumers .... could read a food label or product advertisement and trust that the information ...
Biotech startups race against ‘Big Ag’ to develop gene-edited crops
Calyxt Inc, an eight-year-old firm co-founded by a genetics professor, altered the genes of a soybean plant to produce healthier ...
Does popular antipsychotic drug Abilify cause ‘uncontrollable urges’ to gamble, eat and have sex?
By the time she stopped taking aripiprazole — an antipsychotic sold under the brand name Abilify — [Denise Miley had] ...
‘The potential here is huge’: Using exosomes to package and deliver drug therapy
Millions of tiny bubbles, released from cells and packaged with molecular mail, are racing through your bloodstream right now. And ...
Game changer for cystic fibrosis? Discovery of new cell could alter quest for treatment
The discovery of a new type of cell could fundamentally alter how cystic fibrosis researchers seek a cure for the ...
Health benefits of hot dog water? Profitable prank illustrates problem with food labels
Festival-goers in Canada recently got the opportunity to buy an innovative new health product: hot dog water. Boasting health benefits ...
Genome scientist Craig Venter accused of stealing trade secrets from company he helped create
Craig Venter is not a man to balk at breaking a few eggs to make a scientific omelette. The maverick ...
Viewpoint: FDA gives organic food marketers a pass on deceptive labeling—at consumer expense
[W]hen it comes to the $47-billion-a-year organic industry, the FDA gives a complete pass to blatantly false and deceptive advertising ...
Ruling out natural causes, experts say ‘rogue breeder’ planted illegal GMO wheat in Canada
A handful of unwelcome plants growing on the side of a road in Alberta were all it took to stop ...
Promising HIV treatment fails in human trials
When Science published a monkey study nearly 2 years ago that showed an anti-inflammatory antibody effectively cured monkeys intentionally infected ...
EU court ruling limiting gene editing ironically underscores safety of modified crops
A European Union court [July 25th] issued a new decision about GMOs. Disappointingly, this decision is likely to further confuse rather than ...
Reproductive medicine could become entangled in the ’embryos are people’ debate
The announcement that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire at the end of [July] and President Trump’s nomination of ...
