Bioethics.net

December 3, 2018 2:12 pm

Medical Detectives: The Last Hope for Families Coping With Rare Diseases (KQED Science)

All over the country, specialized strike teams of doctors are giving hope to families who are desperately searching for a diagnosis.

The medical sleuths have cracked more than a third of the 382 patient cases they’re pursuing, according to a recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine.

September 10, 2018 6:00 am

Statement on Protecting the Integrity of U.S. Biomedical Research (NIH.gov)

We have long understood, however, that the robustness of the biomedical research enterprise is under constant threat by risks to the security of intellectual property and the integrity of peer review.  This knowledge has shaped our existing policies and practices, but these risks are increasing.

July 12, 2018 9:38 am

What are “predatory” academic journals? (The Economist)

In recent years, however, this practice of appraising researchers by counting their publications has become problematic. This is because an astonishing number of journals that bill themselves as “peer-reviewed” do not, in fact, take the trouble to be so. A tally of journals that an American analytics firm, Cabells, believes to falsely claim to peer-review submissions, amounted, on a recent day, to 8,699—more than double the number of a year ago. A blacklist compiled by other experts is even longer.

March 28, 2018 9:00 am

How Genetics Is Changing Our Understanding of ‘Race’ (The New York Times)

In 1942, the anthropologist Ashley Montagu published “Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race,” an influential book that argued that race is a social concept with no genetic basis. A classic example often cited is the inconsistent definition of “black.” In the United States, historically, a person is “black” if he has any sub-Saharan African ancestry; in Brazil, a person is not “black” if he is known to have any European ancestry. If “black” refers to different people in different contexts, how can there be any genetic basis to it?

March 27, 2018 9:00 am

Former FDA commissioners say right-to-try bills could endanger ‘vulnerable patients’ (Washington Post)

Four former heads of the Food and Drug Administration have issued a joint statement opposing “right to try” legislation that is designed to permit desperately sick patients to get experimental treatments without the approval of the agency.

January 10, 2018 9:00 am

Does gender matter? (Nature)

The suggestion that women are not advancing in science because of innate inability is being taken seriously by some high-profile academics.

September 29, 2017 9:00 am

How to teach children about gender equality (CNN)

Parents can help teach their kids about gender equality by never using gender as an excuse for behavior, experts say.

September 19, 2017 9:00 am

Pregnant women should not be categorised as a ‘vulnerable population’ in biomedical research studies: ending a vicious cycle of ‘vulnerability’ (Journal Of Medical Ethics)

A new study published in Journal of Medical Ethics by van der Zande et al1 further highlights why classifying pregnant women as a ‘vulnerable population’ in the context of research is deeply problematic. Because the designation of ‘vulnerable’ is otherwise applied to populations whose decision-making capacity about research participation is somehow compromised—such as children and adults of limited cognitive ability—many of us have been arguing for some time that using this designation for pregnant women is inappropriate and disrespectful.

July 25, 2017 9:00 am

US defense agencies grapple with gene drives (Nature)

The JASONs, a group of elite scientists that advises the US government on national security, has weighed in on issues ranging from cyber security to renewing America’s nuclear arsenal. But at a meeting in June, the secretive group took stock of a new threat: gene drives, a genetic-engineering technology that can swiftly spread modifications through entire populations and could help vanquish malaria-spreading mosquitoes.

June 14, 2017 9:00 am

Heaven over hospital: Dying girl, age 5, makes a choice (CNN)