Critic at Large

Researchers could become better at engaging in public discourse by more fully considering the social and cultural contexts of their work.

We should not resist developing opiate-producing GM yeast for fear of the technology falling into the wrong hands.

Warning signs that scandal might be brewing in your lab
 

Editors and publishers should use a standardized form to detail why they are pulling papers from the scientific literature.

Science is approaching a better understanding of the increasingly prevalent disease; the consequences of succeeding in this quest are great.

Science tells us obesity is a chronic disease. Why does the outmoded and injurious notion that it is a problem of willpower persist?

Given the diverse cell types and complex structure of the human inner ear, will researchers ever be able to re-create it?

Reviving a decades-old hypothesis of autoimmunity

Researchers studying the use of bacteria and plants to remove toxins from the soil must better communicate their results if they want their techniques to be used by practitioners in the field.

Ethical issues attend the creation of animal-human chimeras.

RNA interference is proving to be a valuable tool for agriculture, allowing researchers to develop pathogen-resistant and more-nutritious crops.

To make the most of the current data deluge, we must reward interdisciplinary researchers who identify and apply the most appropriate analysis methods.

Industry layoffs may save a few dollars, at the cost of losing the collective brainpower of thousands of scientists.

More than 50 years after cross-contamination of cultured cell lines was recognized, the problem continues to plague the scientific community.

Researchers face roadblocks to treating an individual patient’s cancer as a unique disease.

Treating cancer by shutting down the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway

Aging research would greatly benefit from consistently making annotated life span data available.

Living longer doesn’t necessarily mean living healthier.

Federal research dollars are needlessly wasted as scientists spend more and more of their time trying to recoup operational costs.

A better knowledge of the pathogenesis of emerging zoonotic diseases is crucial if we want to prepare for “the next Ebola.”