Archive for July, 2009
President Obama intends to nominate worker health and safety advocate David Michaels, PhD, MPH to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to a statement released by the White House yesterday. Michaels, an epidemiologist, is the director of the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy and a research professor in the Department of [...]
How many bioethics subfields do we really need to grapple with the issues at the cutting edge of contemporary science? Maybe just one.
It turns out that induced pluripotent stem cells are more similar to embryonic stem cells than previously thought—at least in mice. Although iPS cells are not completely identical to embryonic stem cells, two teams of Chinese scientists have been able to demonstrate that reprogrammed cells introduced into an early-stage embryo, or blastocyst, can grow into [...]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides at least $200 million for the 20,894 challenge grant applications the National Institutes of Health recently received. This influx of applications comes on top of the 16,312 regular applications received for the same June-July funding cycle, which raises the question, how is the NIH deciding which applications receive [...]
Digital technologies are changing the world of public health, and officials are just now exploring the best ways to incorporate these new tools into older systems of disease detection and medical research. Looking ahead, the nationwide switch to digital health records has enormous implications for public health—but not just for the reasons most people are talking about.
In 2006, President Bush called for a ban on the creation of animal-human hybrids. This month, Sen. Sam Brownback returned with a bill to stop the monsters.
Embryonic stem cell research is good science, and it needs to be part of our federally funded biomedical research enterprise if the United States is to retain its status as a global scientific leader. That’s why it must be conducted responsibly and ethically.
How to understand how America has changed since the days of the Space Race.
Last week, Chris Mooney described how the Washington Times and a cadre of right-wing bloggers have been fearmongering about John Holdren, President Obama’s science adviser and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Now FoxNews has jumped on the bandwagon with a story implying that Holdren advocated radical population control measures, a claim [...]
Science communication is a regular topic of discussion here at Science Progress, and those in DC interested in learning more about the issue can attend a workshop with seasoned professionals tomorrow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Organized by our friends at Scientists and Engineers for America, the messaging workshop will feature an [...]
Mothers exposed to significant levels of air pollution while pregnant give birth to children with lower childhood IQ scores, according to a new study released this week in Pediatrics. The study involved 249 New York City children whose mothers were exposed to varying levels of “typical kinds of urban air pollution, mostly from car, bus, [...]
Senior Fellow Ruy Teixeria takes a look at the recent Pew poll on public perceptions of science at the main CAP site today and concludes that in spite of the previous administration’s decidedly negative stance on a variety of scientific matters, the public still favors federal support of basic research. He writes: “These data suggest [...]
Conflicts of interest are a special concern in biomedical research because they have the potential to influence the outcome of study results or clinical trials, leading to results that favor certain products or unnecessary risks for patients. New rules may curb the undue influence.
Experience at the Center for Connected Health presents policymakers with clear evidence that comprehensive health care reform can deliver better quality care at a lower cost.
Demographic changes in recent decades are thinning out conservative views on “culture war” issues such as stem cell research, according to a new report from the Progressive Studies Program at the Center for American Progress. Among the findings: Public support for embryonic stem cell research is on the rise, as CAP Senior Fellow Ruy Texeria [...]
Legislation reauthorizing and updating the Small Business Innovation Research program and Small Business Technology Transfer programs has now cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate, but considerable differences between the House and Senate versions will require significant reconciliation efforts in conference committee. The outcome will be critical to the performance of these two key [...]
The United States is generally supportive of scientists and government funding for research and education, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. However, public understanding of climatic changes caused by human activity continues to lag behind [...]
Conservatives have found another ludicrous charge to hurl against the president’s science adviser.
Researchers at Newcastle University in England have pushed cell reprogramming into uncharted bioethical territory, claiming to have transformed stem cells into human sperm. Reports in the British press from last week indicated that the work is intended as a treatment for male infertility, but the possibility of generating gametes from other adult cells raises a [...]
We need to take a closer look at the institutions that enable innovation, not only to see how they can be better coordinated but also how they can respond to the evolving forms and practice of innovation.
Jonathan Moreno applauds President Obama’s intended pick for NIH director: Dr. Francis Collins, a researcher and leader who embraces science and ethics.
There’s not enough transparency in the world of genetic testing, argue experts from the Genetics & Public Policy Center, so it’s time for a registry of the 1,700 or so currently available. “Establishing a registry is a critical first step in the development of a more transparent, quality-centered system of oversight that will better inform [...]
Human embryonic stem cell research has been embroiled in political controversy for much of its short existence. Now, at last, we have a policy with ethical and scientific authority.
Some discussions of the benefits of electronic health records can sound abstract and stats-based. Only 13 percent of physicians currently use even a basic EHR; 1.5 percent of hospitals responding to a recent survey published in the New England of Medicine have a comprehensive electronic-records system; 8 to 12 percent of hospitals responding to the [...]
After eight years of doing research (in the words of the former NIH director), with one hand tied behind their backs, scientists now have ethical guidelines for embryonic stem cell research that will channel federal support to the science that makes the United States a leader in regenerative medicine.
The private sector can support a responsible approach to mitigating the potential effects of climate change by sharing what it knows.
The recent United States Global Change Research Program report warned U.S. citizens of more frequent heat waves, greater disease risks, and damage to the marine life in this country, but we should not forget about the consequences abroad. Depending on emissions scenarios, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that the average global surface temperature [...]
Conservatives try to expose what they claim is a case of science suppression by the Obama administration—and in the process demonstrate how little they know about science in the first place.
Agricultural innovations through modern biotechnology have delivered significant economic, environmental, health and consumer benefits in recent years, but the full potential is even greater.
