Science Controversies
Inside the battle to convince insurers that chronic fatigue syndrome is a legitimate illness
[Reporter Brian Vastag’s career] came to an end in July 2012, when he found himself afflicted by a mysterious and ...
Frozen embryos: Who owns them and do they have legal rights?
With the number of frozen embryos in the United States soaring into the millions, disputes over who owns them are ...
Machines that decide ‘who lives and who dies’? AI community pledges never to build them
Hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals, many of them researchers and engineers prominent in the fields of robotics and ...
Better than antibiotics? Bacteria-targeting viruses show potential against pneumonia
Like other cells, bacteria often find themselves victims of viral infections, dying as new viruses burst out to infect their ...
Viewpoint: Europe may miss CRISPR gene-editing revolution in agriculture, but that won’t stop its progress
Had gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 been exempt from the same stringent guidelines in place for conventional genetic technology, it would have ...
Viewpoint: Using robots to treat autistic children has potential pitfalls
Previous research suggests robots are well received by children with autism spectrum disorders, and there's plenty of anecdotal stories of children ...
We finally have our first smallpox treatment—just in case
Fear of another smallpox pandemic keep you up at night? You’ll be happy to hear the FDA approved tecovirimat (Tpoxx) on [July 13]. It’s ...
Gene-edited crops declared GMOs in EU court ruling
Organisms created by methods that alter the DNA, including CRISPR gene editing, should be subject to the same EU laws as ...
Viewpoint: Intellectual property tug-of-war could hinder the CRISPR gene-editing revolution
Conservative estimates place the value-added of [intellectual property] on the American economy at nearly $1 trillion annually... ... Take, for instance, ...
Viewpoint: Despite what you might hear, there’s still no evidence linking cell phones to cancer
[Recently] the Observer published an article by Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie on a disturbing topic – the idea that telecoms giants ...
‘Morally permissible’: Genetically altered babies get nod from UK ethics panel
The creation of babies whose DNA has been altered to give them what parents perceive to be the best chances ...
Pandemic prevention: Researchers find bats with new virus that could spread to humans
To prevent the next pandemic, pinpoint it at the source. That’s the idea behind PREDICT, a global surveillance program that has ...
‘No reason to panic’: Experts react to study suggesting CRISPR isn’t as precise as we thought
A new study, published in Nature Biotechnology, investigates the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to make simple cuts in DNA in mouse ...
Organic industry splinters as USDA ‘bioengineered’ labeling initiative progresses
Richmond-based Nature's Path Foods, a leading organic breakfast company in North America, has recently announced its resignation from the Organic ...
Drugmakers accused of stalling biosimilars: FDA’s Gottlieb calls tactics ‘a toxin’
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Wednesday [July 18] accused drug makers who manufacture pricey biologic medicines of ...
‘Scientific gold rush’ created by quest for universal immunotherapy
The drug industry has made a mint on immunotherapies for cancer, but those game-changing treatments don’t work for most people’s tumors ...
Molecular pharming: Could cancer treatments one day grow on trees?
Could you imagine a world in which clinical treatments for illnesses such as cancer grew on trees? Professor Julian Ma ...
Grain wars: Ethiopia fights to reclaim intellectual property rights of its ancient ‘supergrain’ teff
Teff is a grain dating back time immemorial in Ethiopia cuisine. Its flour is used to produce injera, a staple ...
Viewpoint: Once fierce opponents of GMOs, Australian Greens may be softening their hard-line stance
A former radical environmental activist who made a stunning reversal on genetically-modified crops believes Australian farmers need access to the ...
As USDA pushes deregulation, organic food producers invent their own quality standards to protect profits
Stringent regulations are crucial to maintaining consumer confidence in the organic label that the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees, according ...
Scientists find ‘glimmer of hope’ in early HIV vaccine trial
There may be a glimmer of hope in the fight to protect people from HIV-1, the most widespread type of ...
As Africa embraces biotech, one of continent’s major grocery chains begins to import GMOs
The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) has granted chain store Choppies Superstores a permit to import products that may contain Genetically ...
Medical marijuana and pain control: Study casts doubt on drug’s effectiveness
Depending on who you listen to, medical cannabis is either a rising star in the world of therapeutics or an ...
78 percent of Germans say humans have ‘no right’ to genetically engineer plants and animals, government study shows
79 percent of Germans agree that genetic engineering should be banned in agriculture, according to a 2017 study by the Federal ...
Patients with suicidal thoughts can be included in depression clinical trials, FDA says
The Food and Drug Administration is overhauling its guidance for developing treatments for major depressive disorder for the first time ...
Marijuana-derived epilepsy drug might pave the way for GMO cannabis research
Legal hurdles to exploring marijuana’s medicinal properties might soon fall in the wake of the US Food and Drug Administration’s ...
How to change consumer perception of crop biotechnology and GMO foods
Genetically modified (GM) foods for human consumption have long been a subject of intense public debate, as well as academic ...
