Science Controversies
How long does COVID vaccine immunity last? When might we need a booster?
Current research shows that people who have been infected with covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, retained immunity that ...
CRISPR can alter an embryo’s genes forever. What happens when there are ‘mistakes’?
[He Jiankui] made the first genetically modified babies in the history of humankind. After 3.7 billion years of continuous, undisturbed ...
With Olympics nearing, Japan reimposes emergency shutdowns in Tokyo and Osaka
With coronavirus infections rising sharply again, the governor of Tokyo said [April 20] that she planned to ask the central ...
Are masks causing more harm than good in battling COVID? Fringe journal publishes speculative report falsely linked to Stanford, fueling conservative media outburst
Websites and social media users ranging from political candidates to health influencers are falsely claiming a study published on a ...
Human-monkey chimeras: Ethics questions mount as hybrid animal embryo lives for 19 days
Scientists have successfully grown monkey embryos containing human cells for the first time — the latest milestone in a rapidly ...
Arizona governor poised to sign or veto bill making it a felony to abort a fetus with genetic abnormalities like Down syndrome
Republicans who control the Arizona Legislature on [April 22] approved a sweeping anti-abortion bill that bans the procedure if the ...
Video: Prophet of vaccine disinformation? Here’s how one anti-vaccine evangelical pastor spreads his message of fear
As more and more Americans are getting vaccinated, resistance remains strong within one group in particular — white evangelicals. Many ...
$1,000 a shot: Fake Pfizer COVID vaccines available globally as desperation grows in countries without access
Pfizer says it has identified in Mexico and Poland the first confirmed instances of counterfeit versions of the Covid-19 vaccine ...
Viewpoint: Do we still need to wear masks outdoors? Taking face coverings off in restaurants is ‘like watching people put on seatbelts in parked cars, then unbuckling them when they drive’
One systematic overview of COVID-19 case studies concluded that the risk of transmission was 19 times higher indoors than outside ...
CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna on ‘mission driven’ science: ‘We set aside our own projects in a crash effort to fight COVID’
In a typical year, if you tried to map the trajectories of all of the scientific projects in even one ...
Vaccine passports: Everything you need to know
There is likely to be growing demand for vaccine certifications for use in the U.S., for international travel as well ...
Viewpoint: How Big Tech powers and profits from anti-vaccine misinformation
Vaccines are one of the most consequential, safe, efficient and effective medical discoveries in history. Few other inventions have saved ...
Brain fMRIs can provide critical information — but they reflect human bias more than biological fact
Functional magnetic resonance imaging has transformed medicine. It allows non-invasive mapping of a patient’s brain regions to enable more accurate, ...
Viewpoint: Linking free markets to innovation is why capitalism is on the verge of defeating COVID
J&J’s road to the vaccine—from failure to life-saving success, from investment write-off to breakthrough—is a little-known story about science, business ...
Healthcare workers are less likely to support vaccine mandates than the general public. What can — or should — be done?
The question of whether employers should compel their workforces to be immunized against the coronavirus is rippling through the health-care ...
Link between COVID vaccine and death? Here’s a case study on how anti-vaxxers exploit ambiguous reporting
News organizations are at risk of "creating false connections and misinformation" when they write headlines that suggest a link between ...
Psilocybin ‘magic mushrooms’ shown to be as effective as pharmaceuticals in treating depression
The psychedelic drug psilocybin – found in “magic mushrooms” performed just as well as a widely used antidepressant in easing ...
‘Vaccine wall’: With denialism and reluctance rampant in the US, we may fall far short of reaching herd immunity
For the last few months, the primary focus of the U.S. has been getting shots to everyone who wants them, ...
Legal brief: Can governments, private employers, businesses or universities require vaccines?
With several vaccines available for emergency use in the U.S. and distribution efforts underway, policymakers and public health officials are ...
COVID ‘challenge trial’: Coronavirus survivors will be purposely reinfected to probe immunity and spur new vaccines
University of Oxford scientists plan to reinfect dozens of adult volunteers with the coronavirus in the second U.K. clinical trial ...
Vaccine skepticism is rampant among Indigenous Australians. This explains why
First Nations people like those in East Arnhem Land... are next in line in Australia’s vaccination program that began last ...
Dark web: COVID vaccines and fake vaccine passports for sale
Covid-19 vaccines, vaccine passports and faked negative test papers are being sold on the darknet. Prices range between $500 (£360) ...
Viewpoint: Why ‘better safe than sorry’ is a bad approach when vaccine side effects present limited risks
[Adenovirus-based COVID vaccines like the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson shots] have been temporarily suspended in 18 countries in Europe, ...
IVF rates are on the rise — and so are disputes over who gets ‘custody’ of frozen embryos when couples separate
Anyone who has been divorced knows the painful process well: disentangling finances, dividing possessions and mapping out custody arrangements for ...
COVID-19 vaccine verification? Digitally-verified clinical data apps already in the works
A coalition that includes tech giants and healthcare providers is preparing to release global standards for mobile apps that verify ...
The United States has done the worst job at protecting the lives of its younger citizens from COVID — by far
While the elderly have been at the highest risk of becoming seriously ill due to COVID-19 infections, COVID-19 also affected ...
Very rare and very expected: Don’t be surprised when some vaccinated people get COVID
[N]early 40 million Americans have received the jabs they need for full immunization. A vanishingly small percentage of those people ...
