Science Controversies
Facing shifting science and political blowback, Facebook reverses its ban of ‘fringe’ Wuhan lab-leak theory
[A Facebook] policy tweak arrives as support surges in Washington for a fuller investigation into the origins of Covid-19 after ...
Poorer countries are most vulnerable: Fast-spreading Indian variant and limited vaccine supplies threaten global recovery
In the United States, which has detected more than 800 cases of the variant from India, a glut of vaccines ...
In Brexit unwind, England will break this month from restrictive EU gene-edited crop rules, clearing pathway for CRISPR produce and livestock
When Boris Johnson became prime minister of the United Kingdom in 2019, he pledged to “liberate the U.K.’s extraordinary bioscience ...
17 Hollywood celebrities who leveraged their stardom to promote anti-vaccine disinformation
While few of these individuals identify as anti-vaccine, they have either come out as not having vaccinated their children, are ...
No, COVID vaccines do not harm the placenta — the organ that provides the fetus with oxygen and food
As the first organ to form during pregnancy, the placenta is critical to the development of a fetus because it ...
Anti-GMO groups rush to block EU farmer access to gene-edited crops in the name of sustainable farming
Anti-GMO advocacy groups are public relations experts. Their objective — denying farmers access to sustainable technologies as part of a ...
Orthodoxy v Heterodoxy: How our reaction to the coronavirus is challenging notions of verifiable science and truth
What if SARS-CoV2 leaked from a lab? What if there are long-term effects of mRNA vaccines? What if Ivermectin is ...
Wuhan lab leak or wet market outbreak? Biden calls for US intelligence agencies to ‘redouble’ investigative efforts into COVID origins
President Biden ordered a U.S. intelligence inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, following renewed scrutiny on the possibility that the ...
Japan travel ban announced by the CDC darkens clouds over scheduled summer Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics, postponed in 2020 during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, are facing increasing hurdles in putting ...
We will need COVID tests for years to come, posing challenges for poorer countries. Here’s how trained, virus-detecting bees could be a godsend
Dutch researchers on [May 10] said they have trained honeybees to stick out their tongues when presented with the virus’s ...
Gates Foundation funds research to control cattle ticks through biotechnology
Technology that has been used to control mosquitoes and fall armyworm will now be applied to solving the world’s cattle ...
Tick-tock: Inside the race to eliminate the scourge of Lyme disease
In the centuries-long arms race against ticks, the enemy has always held the upper hand, and now its grip appears ...
Immunocompromised and wary about getting a COVID vaccine? Here’s what experts say
None of the large-scale vaccine trials included people who are immunocompromised, though every indication is that vaccines are safe in ...
If you get a vaccine and you experience side effects, is that a sign it’s working?
If someone gets a headache or feels a bit under the weather after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s become common ...
Is science finally getting gene therapy right in the effort to fight intractable diseases?
Over time, researchers have devised a number of ways to manipulate the genetic activity within cells, often by giving them ...
No, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Requiring proof of vaccinations—COVID or otherwise—is not a violation of HIPPA (sic) rights
Some Americans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), are balking at [questions about COVID vaccine status from businesses, employers, and ...
Viewpoint: ‘Bt corn is the way to go’ — Why Australia needs insect-resistant GE corn to fight invasive fall armyworm moth infestations
Fall armyworm (FAW) has infiltrated six [Australian] states and territories and is so hard to control farmers are whispering about ...
Latest anti-vaccine memes linking COVID shots to infertility go viral. Here’s how that happened
Persistent myths like vaccine shedding are becoming more extreme on social media. The latest misinformation claims are that even being ...
One-third of veterans have rejected COVID vaccines. This Veteran Affairs mobile van unit is trying to convert them, but it’s not going well
The rugged communities that stretch from eastern Washington through the Idaho Panhandle into northwestern Montana include some of the country’s ...
Infographic: Either or? Where does the public stand on vaccine mandates and vaccine passports?
There's much higher public support for government-imposed vaccine mandates than businesses' use of "vaccine passports," even if they're called something ...
Struggling with chronic insomnia? Ambien and other pills might work for women short-term but sleep problems usually return
An estimated 9 million Americans say they use prescription medications as sleep aids, including benzodiazepines; Z-drugs, such as zolpidem, zaleplon ...
Viewpoint: Waiving patent restrictions on COVID vaccines to address global shot shortages is politically appealing but fraught with consequences
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the US would support a petition filed last October at the World Trade Organization ...
‘Game-changing failure’: Trials of two Huntington’s disease-fighting gene therapy drugs halted, in ‘crushing blow’ to sufferers
Researchers had hoped that [a new treatment in trials] —known as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs)—would be a game changer for [Huntington’s ...
China and other countries across Asia have limited scourge of COVID infections — but they are falling behind the West in vaccination rates
Most Asian countries have administered doses to less than 3% of their populations, while mainland China and Hong Kong have ...
Viewpoint: Extreme rightwing anti-vaccine rejectionism — Conspiracy promoters liken the unvaccinated to Holocaust and Civil Rights victims
If you’re ever tempted to compare something to the Holocaust, just don’t. Conservative activist and conspiracy theorist DeAnna Lorraine, who ...
Viewpoint: Too far too fast? Two public health advocates say CDC courts unnecessary dangers with relaxed mask recommendations
There is still a Covid-19 death about every 2.5 minutes in the nation, and serious racial and ethnic disparities exists ...
Breathing in CRISPR enzymes to treat infectious diseases, like the flu or COVID? It might soon be possible
A team of investigators from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University has developed a CRISPR-based treatment to stop ...
