March 24, 2025
A New Edition of Developing World Bioethics Is Now Available
Developing World Bioethics (vol. 25, no. 1, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
Research Ethics
March 21, 2025
NIH has cut one mRNA-vaccine grant. Will more follow?
(Nature) – The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has expanded its cuts to science funding, terminating a growing list of research projects that now encompasses hundreds of grants funding studies on a wide range of topics — from HIV … Read More
March 14, 2025
When humans use AI to earn patents, who is doing the inventing?
(The Conversation) – There is much debate about whether AI can augment human creativity, but emerging data suggests that the technology can boost research and development where creativity typically plays an important role. A recent study by MIT economics doctoral … Read More
March 14, 2025
A New Edition of Journal of Medical Ethics Is Now Available
Journal of Medical Ethics (vol. 51, no. 3, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
March 13, 2025
German spy agency concluded COVID virus likely leaked from lab, papers say
(Reuters) – Germany’s foreign intelligence service in 2020 put at 80%-90% the likelihood that the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic was accidentally released from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, two German newspapers reported on Wednesday. According to a joint report … Read More
March 13, 2025
Scientists Take on Scholarly Journals With Walkouts, Scathing Letters and Delistings
(Wall Street Journal) – Some scientists say the for-profit industry’s fast growth makes it harder to police fraud and low-quality work Altogether, editors at nearly 40 journals have quit in the past decade over differences with their publishers, according to … Read More
March 12, 2025
For Patients Needing Transplants, Hope Arrives on Tiny Hooves
(New York Times) – Some scientists are confident that organs from genetically modified pigs will one day be routinely transplanted into humans. But substantial ethical questions remain. They are delivered by C-section to protect them from viruses that sows can … Read More
March 11, 2025
National Cancer Institute Employees Can’t Publish Information on These Topics Without Special Approval
(ProPublica) – Employees at the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, received internal guidance last week to flag manuscripts, presentations or other communications for scrutiny if they addressed “controversial, high profile, or sensitive” topics. … Read More
March 11, 2025
The Guy Who Wants to Engineer Woolly Mammoths Has Engineered . . . Something
(Texas Monthly) – Lamm and Shapiro were quick to highlight the utility of the mammouse’s creation. The Colossal Woolly Mouse, though radically cute, is not all that radical from a gene editing perspective. Its creation is not as impactful as, … Read More
March 10, 2025
Elon Musk’s Neuralink Files to Trademark ‘Telepathy’
(Wired) – Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, has filed applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to exclusively own the names Telepathy, Telekinesis, and others for future products. Neuralink, which Musk cofounded in 2016, is developing … Read More
March 7, 2025
Exclusive: US CDC plans study into vaccines and autism, sources say
(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning a large study into potential connections between vaccines and autism, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, despite extensive scientific research that has disproven or failed to … Read More
March 6, 2025
Citation penalties following sexual versus scientific misconduct allegations
(PLoS One) – The [Web of Science] data shows that scholars accused of sexual misconduct incur a significant citation decrease in the three years after the accusations become public, while we do not detect a significant citation decrease for scholars … Read More
March 6, 2025
Inside the scientific quest to reverse human aging
(Washington Post via MSN) – Cellular reprogramming is now hailed by its supporters as the most promising scientific approach to improving human healthspans and lifespans. Proponents claim it has the potential to reshape how — and whether — we grow … Read More
March 5, 2025
Fifty years after ‘Asilomar,’ scientists meet again to debate biotech’s modern-day threats
(Science) – Risks and benefits of mirror life, AI, synthetic cells debated at anniversary of the landmark 1975 meeting Half a century ago, molecular biologists came together up the hill from the beach in a conference center—made up of exquisite … Read More
March 5, 2025
Fired CDC Scientists Are Reinstated for Now
(New York Times) – The fellows had been let go as part of the push to cut federal probationary employees that caused thousands of scientists from the C.D.C. and other agencies to lose their jobs. The fellows had been let … Read More
March 4, 2025
Scientists genetically engineer mice with thick hair like the extinct woolly mammoth
(NBC News) – Scientists have been genetically engineering mice since the 1970s, but new technologies like CRISPR “make it a lot more efficient and easier.” Extinction is still forever, but scientists at the biotech company Colossal Biosciences are trying what they say … Read More
March 3, 2025
Psychedelic drug studies face a potent source of bias: the ‘trip’
(Science) – Innovative trial designs aim to separate participant expectations from drug effects This “functional unblinding” is not unique to psychedelics, but it’s especially pronounced in this drug class. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expressed concern about … Read More
March 3, 2025
Former NIH director Francis Collins retires
(Axios) – Former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins unexpectedly retired on Friday, writing in a statement that employees of the government’s biomedical research institution “deserve the utmost respect and support of all Americans.” Why it matters: The noted … Read More
February 28, 2025
Pig organs in people: The future of cross-species transplants
(Knowable Magazine) – Can genetically modified animals help ease the shortage of organs? After years of research into xenotransplantation, the field is at a turning point — yet risks and ethical issues remain. Over the past few years, a handful … Read More
February 25, 2025
Scientists Discover New Coronavirus With Potential to Infect Humans: What to Know
(Gizmodo) – New research out this month showcases the ever-present danger posed by coronaviruses, the family of viruses that gave rise to the covid-19 pandemic. Scientists in China have reportedly found a new coronavirus in bats that may be capable … Read More
February 25, 2025
How quickly are you ageing? What molecular ‘clocks’ can tell you about your health
(Nature) – Armed with an influx of cash and public enthusiasm, researchers are looking to improve how ageing is measured. Mixed feelings of enthusiasm and apprehension were common among researchers who spoke to Nature about efforts to develop tests that … Read More
February 24, 2025
A New Edition of Nursing Ethics Is Now Available
Nursing Ethics (vol. 32, no. 2, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
February 20, 2025
The women who made America’s microchips and the children who paid for it
(The Verge) – The US wants to bring back domestic chipmaking. But America’s first generation of Silicon Valley factory workers endured unsafe manufacturing conditions and never got answers about kids born with birth defects. The Verge sought out legal documents and … Read More
February 19, 2025
Trillions of Viruses Live in Your Body. A.I. Is Trying to Find Them.
(New York Times) – The Human Virome Program will analyze samples from thousands of volunteers in an effort to understand how viruses affect health. But healthy people are rife with viruses that don’t make us ill. Scientists estimate that tens … Read More
February 19, 2025
Google’s new AI generates hypotheses for researchers
(Ars Technica) – Google Research is now angling to turn AI into a scientist—well, a “co-scientist.” The company has a new multi-agent AI system based on Gemini 2.0 aimed at biomedical researchers that can supposedly point the way toward new hypotheses and … Read More
