Science Controversies
Vaccine chaos: Doses likely released first are the hardest to deploy
[T]he COVID-19 vaccine will be a whole new challenge. “The COVID situation is significantly different and more complex than anything ...
Vaccine resistance remains high, as only 20% of Americans say they would ‘get the vaccine as soon as possible’
[Many registered voters] want to wait until [a COVID vaccine] has been available for a while to see if there ...
COVID is definitely airborne – Here’s what that means for you
The Centers for Disease Control revised its COVID-19 guidelines on [October 5] to include that the novel coronavirus can be spread through ...
Can ancient potions treat COVID? Short on modern medicine, Peru’s indigenous groups give them a try
The coronavirus pandemic’s ruthless march through Peru — the country with the world’s highest per-population confirmed COVID-19 mortality rate — ...
Controversial Great Barrington ‘focused protection’ herd immunity declaration finds support at the White House
Many experts say “herd immunity” — the point at which a disease stops spreading because nearly everyone in a population ...
Analysis: Problematic provisions in new USDA rule for GE plants
Over the last three months, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published materials and conducted webinar presentations to ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why excluding pregnant women from COVID vaccine efficacy and safety trials is misguided
To date, more than 140 drug treatments and numerous vaccines are being evaluated to treat and prevent Covid-19 infection. Vaccines ...
Post-Brexit UK likely to back crop gene editing, but won’t abandon EU’s strict GMO rules
Moves to facilitate the development of gene editing once the UK is free from EU regulation at the end of ...
From confusion to comas: ⅓ of hospitalized COVID patients suffered deteriorating neurological function
Nearly a third of hospitalized Covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function — ranging from confusion to delirium ...
5 countries the US can learn from in how to address the fast-evolving coronavirus pandemic
Here is a list of five countries that had some of the best responses to tackling COVID-19. New Zealand ranks ...
Viewpoint: Lack of international cooperation could perpetuate the pandemic crisis for years
World leaders now have an opportunity to seal the deal on a global framework that puts international cooperation above vaccine ...
Trump’s osteopathic doctor Sean Conley’s willingness to withhold national security related information about president’s infection resurrects stigmas about DOs
[A]s Dr. Sean Conley, [D.O.] issued public updates on his treatment of Trump’s COVID-19, the questions and the insults about ...
Revolt escalates over Notre Dame president’s admitted ‘poor judgement’ in ignoring university guidelines at White House ‘super spreader’ event
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, [Notre Dame’s] president and a 66-year-old Catholic priest with degrees in philosophy and divinity, was ...
White House Rose Garden SCOTUS ‘super spreader’ event may have infected thousands across the US
From a religious summit outside Atlanta to a campaign rally at a Pennsylvania airport and a private fundraiser in Minnesota, ...
The insidious way COVID invades our brains
In a review paper published [September 22], researchers put spotlight on the potential long-term neurological consequences of COVID-19, dubbing it ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR pioneers awarded Nobel Prize. Will EU embrace the technology to boost food production?
CRISPR-Cas, the technique with which DNA in cells can be cut with ‘genetic scissors,’ has been awarded the Nobel Prize ...
Viewpoint: Setting pandemic guidelines, policymakers should be informed by science, not just follow the ‘precautionary principle’
Those who simply say “follow the science” often believe we should follow a ‘precautionary principle’ when we determine coronavirus policy—to make ...
‘Percy’ director defends anti-Monsanto film against charges of inaccuracy from farmers
The director of a new film about a Saskatchewan grain farmer’s legal fight with biotech giant Monsanto says the drama ...
COVID politics: 47 instances in which Trump Administration interfered in recommended coronavirus responses, Congressional committee finds
[The October 2 Select Subcommittee] staff analysis found at least 47 separate incidents of political interference in the Administration’s coronavirus ...
With concerns rising that Trump was conspiring to end run FDA vaccine standards, White House reverses decision to block release after the agency ignored the president and published them anyway
The White House on [October 6] approved tough new standards for coronavirus vaccines after weeks of delay, but only after the ...
Trump’s treatments primer: Regeneron antibodies and Gilead’s Remdesivir
[After Trump’s COVID diagnosis,] his treatment began with a leading drug candidate, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ two-antibody combination or “cocktail,” REGN-COV2. Within ...
COVID long haulers face crushing mental roller-coaster
Early on in the pandemic, a pervasive myth among patients and some health authorities was the idea that Covid-19 was ...
Stockholm syndrome revisited: As Sweden’s COVID rate flattens and masks disappear, experts ponder ‘no lockdown’ blueprint
Normalcy has never been more contentious than in Sweden. Almost alone in the Western world, the Swedes refused to impose ...
How Alaska set up a gold standard COVID testing operation
As the coronavirus pandemic surged across the U.S. this spring, Alaska faced a raft of unique obstacles. Despite the hurdles, Alaska was ...
Top EU farm officials back gene editing, call for efforts to assuage concern about ‘unintended impacts’
The European Commission’s top agriculture civil servant said [October 1] he supports controversial gene-editing technologies, but called for more “assurances” ...
Out-of-the-box vaccine candidate: Nasal drops of a very slow-growing, synthetic-biology developed version of COVID. It just might work
[S]ynthetic biology has led to a way to create a weakened form of the pandemic coronavirus that causes covid-19. Although ...
‘Everything smells like a more disgusting version of Spaghetti O’s’: Recovered COVID patients report awful phantom smells
Instead of a scentless world, an increasing number of people who lost their sense of smell because of Covid-19 are ...
