Archive for February, 2010
The National Institutes of Health has a smart and ethical stem cell policy in place, but that doesn’t mean that the agency can’t improve upon the policy once it is put into practice. A new regulatory notice published this week proposes a rules adjustment that would slightly expand the definition of human embryonic stem cells [...]
Legislators in South Dakota seem bent on becoming anti-science pioneers. After a century of anti-evolution policies and legislation across the United States, the South Dakota legislature is set to become the only one in the nation to micromanage what teachers say about global warming.
In the early days of bioethics, the dominant paradigm was about finding ways to slow down the application and use of emerging technologies. While some still cling to this paradigm, the ethics of information technologies applied to biobanks and electronic health records is producing a major shift in thinking.
The Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration today announced a partnership aimed at speeding new medical treatments from “microscope to market,” as HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius put it. The program will help researchers conducting basic biomedical research understand the regulatory parameters for drugs and [...]
Advances in basic science and in engineering education are propelling the field forward at breakneck speeds. The progressive response is more, not less, science.
NIH funding directly and indirectly contributes to good jobs and is a proven engine of economic growth.
Stem cell science has advanced rapidly in China, but the field suffers from a lack of adequate regulation for clinical applications in the country. The time is ripe for international collaboration.
The Department of Energy today drew upon the recommendations of an Obama administration-wide effort to boost regional economic development, announcing that DOE would team up with six other federal agencies to create an energy-related regional innovation cluster dedicated to developing and commercializing new building efficiency technologies. The other agencies joining the effort are the Small [...]
The idea that police work should be evidence-based and use the best available scientific research to guide crime control decisions is still an innovative and radical concept.
The Chinese government is currently investing in stem cell research. But a separate expansion in genome sequencing capabilities could shift the center of gravity for biomedical science across the Pacific.
“A wait-and-see policy,” on climate change, observed Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Dr. Joseph Romm on Wednesday, “may mean waiting until it’s too late.” Romm was speaking at a CAP event on “The Science of Climate Change,” and was joined by Dr. Chris Field, the director of the department of global ecology at the [...]
In his final column for Science Progress, Rick Weiss responded to critics of stem cell research who argue that injections of stem cells will never serve as treatments for certain chronic diseases. True enough, Weiss wrote, injections of stem cells are unlikely to serve as a treatment for conditions like Alzheimer’s:
Alzheimer’s, after all, affects such [...]
Christopher Field, Ph.D., is the director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, professor of biology and environmental earth system science at Stanford University, and the Working Group II Co-Chair for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Michael MacCracken is the chief scientist for Climate Change Programs at the Climate Institute and a co-author and contributing author for various chapters in the IPCC assessment reports.
A single, small study stirred a mass anti-vaccine movement that threatens public health. Now that the paper has been declared totally invalid, advocates and the medical establishment need to talk.
On Thursday, the Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Genetics, Health, and Society at the Department of Health and Human Services will meet to discuss a set of reports on the future of genomic medicine. The meeting will cover a range of important issues such as the impact of affordable whole-genome sequencing; comparative effectiveness research; genetics education [...]
The budget request for fiscal year 2011 that the Obama administration released on Monday includes foundational investments that will help the United States remain the leader among innovative nations.
Investing in innovation is a critical component of long-term economic prosperity, and the president’s FY2011 budget request includes two notable provisions that will support regional science and technology clusters.
The administration is asking for $75 million “to support the creation of regional innovation clusters that leverage regions’ competitive strengths to boost job creation and economic growth,” [...]
