Science Controversies
Ethics in the age of CRISPR babies: China mulls how to care for gene edited babies as researcher who created them exits jail
Two prominent bioethicists in China are calling on the government to set up a research center dedicated to ensuring the ...
Fragrant sorghum? Chinese researchers deploy gene editing to develop aromatic version of cereal grain popular in Asia
Aroma is an important quality in food. Jasmine rice, for instance, is popular with consumers for its aroma and, and ...
Will you need a second COVID booster shot? Probably not.
As people across the world grapple with the prospect of living with the coronavirus for the foreseeable future, one question ...
Ivermectin doesn’t work: Yet another study shows no efficacy in reducing COVID disease progression
Ivermectin failed to prevent older adults with COVID-19 from progressing to severe disease compared with standard of care alone, an ...
Viewpoint; Europe needs to embrace cutting-edge biotechnologies for food sustainability and security
In order to feed a world population of 10 billion in 2050, we must act on all the factors that ...
Fearing unknown environmental consequences, Johns Hopkins researchers call for strict regulation of mosquito-suppressing gene drives
Biotechnology is... being used to address global challenges like climate change, food insecurity, and building the bioeconomy, which directly or ...
Why we might need not annual COVID boosters
In many parts of the world, the variant’s record-breaking wave is receding. Having a bespoke vaccine in 100 days would ...
Why is COVID usually less severe in children?
Although some children do fall seriously ill after coming down with Covid-19, the most have mild symptoms or no symptoms ...
Vaccine debate: Is it dangerous for children under five to get a COVID shot?
After the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delayed authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine last week for children under ...
Many people equate COVID with flu. Here’s why it’s more like smoking
It’s suddenly become acceptable to say that COVID is—or will soon be—like the flu. Such analogies have long been the ...
Who owns the rights to CRISPR? In startling blow to Nobel Prize winners Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, Boston’s Broad Institute awarded patent
Ending the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle over who invented CRISPR, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled ...
More than half of the 600,000+ abortions in the US each year are now done with pills, not surgery
For the first time, medication abortion now makes up the majority of abortions in the United States, according to data released ...
Can we restore the near-extinct American chestnut tree? Decision nears on approval of genetically engineered species
Scientists appear to have the technical capability to bring back a tree that we humans had almost driven to extinction ...
Public health officials share their views on what the coming months of the COVID outbreak might look like
As the United States approaches the second anniversary of its initial COVID-19 shutdowns, we're daring to dream about what the ...
Indian farmers split over spread of illegal insect resistant Bt cotton and eggplant
Amidst a raging debate over illegal Bt Brinjal and Bt Cotton, opinion is split amongst farmers' groups even as the ...
Star Penn swimmer Lia Thomas at the center of a rancorous controversy over trans athletes
Each time University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas dives off the race block, she’s swimming against more than just the ...
Viewpoint: GMO detractors think they can speak for Africa, but African farmers love biotech and dynamic farming solutions
The naysayers of agricultural biotechnology have made many arguments against GMO adoption in industrialized nations. A lot of this opposition ...
Viewpoint: Physicians for Informed Consent has emerged as the leading voice for COVID anti-vax movement. Their science-rejectionist roots run far deeper
The website for the group Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC) reads like an apolitical, educational resource that provides information on ...
‘Paper terrorism’: Parents opposed to school mask mandates use sham legal claims to intimidate teachers
Teachers and staff members of her school district in Bethalto, Illinois, a small town outside of St. Louis, were suddenly ...
Viewpoint: Was Eric Lander’s ousting as Biden’s science advisor a case of political correctness gone wild?
The best way to understand a society, social anthropologists say, is to start by studying its most bizarre, irrational, and ...
Studying the human brain is challenging. Here are two ethically controversial ways it can be done
Studying the human brain is hard.... Recently, however, two halfway-house approaches have been developed. One is to grow so-called brain ...
New COVID vaccine approved in Canada, made by Medicago and derived from plants
Medicago's plant-based COVID-19 vaccine is now approved by Health Canada, which will soon give Canadians the option of getting a ...
Are ‘gender reassignment’ surgeries appropriate for children? Texas orders investigation
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered the state's Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to "conduct a prompt and thorough ...
Science vs. sales: The antiaging field is booming–with both promise and charlatans
The antiaging world exists far beyond the laboratory. There is a booming business around lifespan extension, chock full of sleek ...
China enthusiastically embracing gene-edited crops
Researchers in China are ecstatic about their government's approval of gene-edited crops, claiming that it clears the way for the plants' ...
More than 7 million immunocompromised people in the US remain vulnerable to COVID. How should their concerns be addressed?
COVID-19 is still all around us, everywhere, and millions of people... are walking around with a compromised immune system. A ...
Livestock farming of the future: Climate friendly sheep and salmon that eat less and grow faster are in our future
Livestock production worldwide generates 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), including climate-wrecking methane, ...
