Science Controversies
Viewpoint: EU edges closer to embracing sustainable gene editing agricultural techniques but organic farming commercial interests remain key roadblocks
The current EU GMO-legislation, based on late 1990s understanding of biotechnology, would leave Europe without access to current and future ...
How ‘race norming’ prevented NFL players with concussion-related symptoms from dementia diagnoses — and blocked many from getting health benefits
It has been more than a year since Black former players seeking payments from the landmark NFL concussion settlement first ...
Treating cancer without chemotherapy? Oncologists say it’s possible
Chemotherapy for decades was considered “the rule, the dogma,” for treating breast cancer and other cancers, said Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi, ...
Indigenous Chilean quillay trees offers hope for a new generation of vaccines
Quillay trees, technically known as Quillaja saponaria, are rare evergreens native to Chile that have long been used by the ...
Daily aspirin use has “no net benefit” for preventing cardiovascular disease, research shows
People 60 years old and older should not start taking daily aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease, according to draft recommendations ...
COVID shot grab bag? Here’s what we know about mixing Pfizer, J&J, and Moderna vaccines
So does getting a dose of Pfizer vaccine after getting a single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine trigger production ...
With a goal of agricultural self-reliance by 2030, China adds genetic engineering to its strategy to develop high-yield rice, wheat, corn and soy crops
China will beef up efforts to create higher yields and higher quality production of major food crop varieties, and self-sufficiency ...
Novel artificial intelligence (AI) as good as physicians at reading ultrasound images and detecting breast cancer
Doctors often use ultrasound, mammograms, MRI, or biopsy to find or diagnose breast cancer. In a new study, researchers from ...
Facebook remains popular destination for people discussing how to acquire and use parasitic worm-treating drug ivermectin
Facebook has become more aggressive at enforcing its coronavirus misinformation policies in the past year. But the platform remains a ...
From gene drives to insecticide nets, here’s how biotechnology is confronting the malaria epidemic
Mosquitoes and the malaria parasite have survived as long as they have by constantly adapting to new conditions. Now, growing ...
WHO empanels last-chance science team to investigate COVID origins
The World Health Organisation on [October 13] proposed 26 experts to form its new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins ...
Viewpoint: How has Fox News handled daily coverage of the COVID vaccine? Badly, Media Matters reveals
As the United States has struggled to fully vaccinate its population, Fox News has aired a continued stream of coverage ...
Vaccines and the founding of the United States: The American Revolution succeeded thanks in part to an immunization mandate
The United States owes its existence as a nation partly to an immunization mandate. In 1777, smallpox was a big ...
Vaccination mandates could disrupt regular NBA season and derail some teams’ playoff expectations
For months, sports organizations encouraged—but did not require—athletes to get the shot. They offered the advice of their medical professionals, ...
‘A gene called jealousy’: The growing pains of the biotechnology revolution
If there was one word I would use to describe the atmosphere in the early biotech days, it would be ...
Viewpoint: Should it be a crime to steal DNA? Florida’s personal genetic data privacy protection is a model for other states to emulate
Your DNA is among your most valuable assets, and you carry it with you everywhere. But it’s unsecured, easy to ...
80 million workers face COVID vaccine mandates — and that’s a major challenge for OSHA
In early September, just before President Biden ordered 80 million workers to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing, a question ...
If genetic therapy could cure or eradicate autism, should it be made available? The autistic community is not so sure
A large, UK-based study of genetics and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been paused, following criticism that it failed to ...
If India’s crash vaccine development program is successful, multiple flexible mRNA shots might be available by year’s end
India is preparing to produce its own mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the year, in what would be ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR gene edited crops ‘mimic nature’ — but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be regulated
Legislators around the world are being asked to reconsider how to regulate the latest developments in gene technology, genome editing ...
Viewpoint: With two decades of resounding GMO maize success, South Africa offers lessons on food security for the rest of the continent
African countries in the south of the Sahara have a lot to learn from South Africa’s successes in Genetically Modified ...
Viewpoint: Why Scotland needs to overcome its ‘hard stance against gene editing’ and embrace drought- and pest-resistant crops
Scotland is not numb to [climate change-induced] weather challenges, as the past months of undulating weather patterns has shown, and ...
Viewpoint: More evidence emerges for controversial lab leak COVID origins theory
A coronavirus adapts for its host animal. It takes time to perfect itself for infecting humans. But a pathogen engineered ...
UK relaxing restrictions on testing CRISPR gene-edited crops
Law changes later this year will make it easier to run field trials in England on crops that are gene-edited ...
Opioid vaccine in the works to address overdose epidemic
The vaccination felt like most others — a slight pinprick in M.'s upper arm, followed by the application of a ...
Viewpoint: ‘We must side with the EU even when it is wrong rather than England if it is right’?— Scotland resists England’s embrace of gene editing to promote food security
Imagine that an extraordinary scientific discovery promised the ability to eradicate hunger, transform agricultural productivity and significantly enhance animal welfare ...
Should lab-grown beef be labeled ‘meat’? USDA denies cattle lobby petition to limit definition to animal sources
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has responded to petition sponsors with differing opinions about how lab-grown “meat” and ...
