September 11, 2024
A New Edition of Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Is Now Available
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics (vol. 45, no. 5, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
Research Ethics
September 10, 2024
How to Support Indigenous Peoples on Biodiversity: Be Rigorous with Data
(Nature) – Questions surrounding an often-repeated statistic about Indigenous Peoples and biodiversity show that researchers should take more care when sourcing facts. For at least two decades, scientists, policymakers and journals, including Nature, have cited a statistic without determining its … Read More
September 9, 2024
A New Edition of Journal of Medical Ethics Is Now Available
Journal of Medical Ethics (vol. 50, no. 9, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
September 5, 2024
A New Edition of The New England Journal of Medicine Is Now Available
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 391, no. 5, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
September 4, 2024
A New Edition of Journal of Medical Humanities Is Now Available
Journal of Medical Humanities (vol. 45, no 3, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
September 3, 2024
Their Loved Ones Died After Receiving Pig Organ Transplants. The Families Have No Regrets.
(NBC News) – Four people have received hearts or kidneys from pigs. Some of their relatives recount a roller coaster of hope and uncertainty. Three other patients have followed in Bennett Sr.’s footsteps and received pig organs, most recently a … Read More
September 3, 2024
NIH Cancels ‘Havana Syndrome’ Research, Citing Unethical Coercion of Participants
(CNN) – The National Institutes of Health said Friday that it is stopping its research of what’s commonly known as Havana syndrome, a mysterious illness experienced by a number of spies, soldiers and diplomats who have reported sudden debilitating symptoms … Read More
September 2, 2024
An Ethical Way Forward for Indigenous Microbiome Research
(Nature) – Science has a history of exploitation and extraction. Microbiologists have the chance to take a different approach. Around the time the study was published, Crittenden found herself sitting with a Hadza friend on a blanket under the shade … Read More
September 2, 2024
How Machines Learned to Discover Drugs
(The New Yorker) – The A.I. revolution is coming to a pharmacy near you. Bacteria produce numerous molecules that could become medicines, but most of them aren’t easily identified or synthesized with the technology that exists today. A small percentage … Read More
August 30, 2024
The Far-Reaching Ripple Effects of a Discredited Cancer Study
(Wall Street Journal) – Four years ago, a team of researchers led by a heavyweight in the field of microbiology made a stunning claim: Cancers have unique microbial signatures that could one day allow tumors to be diagnosed with a … Read More
August 28, 2024
Exclusive: The Papers That Most Heavily Cite Retracted Studies
(Nature)- Data from giant project show how withdrawn research propagates through the literature. In January, a review paper about ways to detect human illnesses by examining the eye appeared in a conference proceedings published by the Institute of Electrical and … Read More
August 28, 2024
AI Doomers Had Their Big Moment
(The Atlantic) – Researchers who worried about AI risk had been treated as pariahs in elite circles. Suddenly, they were able to get their case across to the masses, Toner said. They were invited onto serious news shows and popular … Read More
August 28, 2024
A New Edition of Nursing Ethics Is Now Available
Nursing Ethics (vol. 31, no. 4, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
August 27, 2024
The Staggering Death Toll of Scientific Lies
(Vox) – Unfortunately, fraud and misconduct in the scientific community isn’t nearly as rare as one might like to believe. We also know that the consequences of being caught are frequently underwhelming. It can take years to get a bad … Read More
August 26, 2024
‘We Were Expendable’: Downwinders from World’s 1st Atomic Test Are on a Mission to Tell Their Story
(ABC News) – Not many people know the world’s first detonation of an atomic bomb was on U.S. soil Ash from the Trinity Test rained down for days. Children played in it, thinking it was snow. It covered fresh laundry … Read More
August 22, 2024
Psychedelic Drugs May Give a Glimpse Into Near-Death Experiences
(New York Times) – A survey revealed similarities between these two altered states of consciousness. One person felt a sensation of “slowly floating into the air” as images flashed around. Another recalled “the most profound sense of love and peace,” … Read More
August 22, 2024
An ‘AI Scientist’ Is Inventing and Running Its Own Experiments
(Wired) – Letting programs learn through “open-ended” experimentation may unlock remarkable new capabilities, as well as new risks. At first glance, a recent batch of research papers produced by a prominent artificial intelligence lab at the University of British Columbia … Read More
August 22, 2024
Second Patient in Trial for Elon Musk’s Neuralink Uses Design Software, Videogames
(Wall Street Journal) – In March, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink introduced its first human trial participant, a quadriplegic who showed the world how he could control a computer cursor with just his thoughts. On Wednesday, the company said … Read More
August 22, 2024
Beyond Gene-Edited Babies: The Possible Paths for Tinkering with Human Evolution
(MIT Technology Review) – Futurists who write about the destiny of humankind have imagined all sorts of changes. We’ll all be given auxiliary chromosomes loaded with genetic goodies, or maybe we’ll march through life as a member of a pod … Read More
August 21, 2024
US Clinical Trials in China Questioned by US Lawmakers
(Reuters) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to ramp up scrutiny of U.S. clinical trials conducted in China, citing the risk of intellectual property theft and the possibility of forced participation of Uyghurs. … Read More
August 20, 2024
Adaptive Brain Pacemaker Eased Parkinson’s Symptoms
(Axios) – An implant that responds to brain signals in real time was shown to ease symptoms of Parkinson’s disease instantaneously in a limited trial of whether “closed loop” technology can help patients as they go about their daily lives. … Read More
August 19, 2024
A New Edition of European Journal of Human Genetics Is Now Available
European Journal of Human Genetics (vol. 32, no. 8, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
August 16, 2024
This Researcher Wants to Replace Your Brain, Little by Little
(MIT Technology Review) – The US government just hired a researcher who thinks we can beat aging with fresh cloned bodies and brain updates. A US agency pursuing moonshot health breakthroughs has hired a researcher advocating an extremely radical plan … Read More
August 16, 2024
Editing Fetal Genomes Is on the Horizon ? a Medical Anthropologist Explains Why Ethical Discussions with the Target Communities Should Happen Sooner Rather Than Later
(The Conversation) – I’m a medical anthropologist and bioethicist who studies the values and experiences driving prenatal gene therapy developments, including genome editing. Human prenatal genome editing has not happened yet – as far as we know. Prenatal genome editing … Read More
August 16, 2024
A New Edition of Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Is Now Available
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (vol. 21, no. 2, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
