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Opinion

Opinion: Constrain Speculation to Protect the Integrity of Science
Mike Klymkowsky | Jun 18, 2018 | 4 min read
What we can know about biology before the last universal common ancestor is limited—and we should be circumspect in filling in the gaps.
Opinion: How to Use Mobile Apps for Immunohistochemistry
Alexander E. Kalyuzhny | May 25, 2018 | 4 min read
This guide for apps comes from personal experience testing various programs aimed to improve productivity or to help with selecting reagents.
Opinion: Should Human-Animal Chimeras Be Granted “Personhood”?
John D. Loike | May 23, 2018 | 4 min read
Determining which products of advanced biotechnology are deserving of legal protections is essential to our own social architecture.
Opinion: We Must Demand Evidence of Peer Review
Nikolai Slavov | May 21, 2018 | 2 min read
Peer review varies in quality and thoroughness. Making it publicly available could improve it.
Opinion: How We Found a New Way to Detect “Hidden Sharks”
Judith Bakker and Stefano Mariani | May 7, 2018 | 4 min read
Given the speed and efficiency of environmental (eDNA) sampling, a much larger portion of the sea can be screened, in a shorter time, for patterns of diversity.
Opinion: Microbial Mind Control—Truth or Scare?
Katerina Johnson | May 1, 2018 | 3 min read
Normal brain function may have evolved to depend on gut microbes and their metabolites.
Opinion: We Have Been Naive About Naive T Cells
José A.M. Borghans, Femke van Wijk, and Theo van den Broek | Apr 6, 2018 | 3 min read
Human naive T cells are far more heterogeneous than has long been appreciated, having implications for vaccine strategies.
Opinion: No, FDA Didn’t Really Approve 23andMe’s BRCA Test
Cecile Janssens | Mar 19, 2018 | 3 min read
Rather, the breast cancer mutation screen was classified as a type of medical device with obligations for the company to reduce risks to customers.
Opinion: Do Not Believe the Hype
Aymen I. Idris | Feb 5, 2018 | 4 min read
Marijuana ointments as cancer treatments remain a distant prospect. 
Opinion: Label Drugs That Are Tested on Animals
Shaun Khoo | Jan 15, 2018 | 2 min read
Transparency about the role of animals in drug development could help raise awareness of and appreciation for preclinical research.
Opinion: 11 Best Science Podcasts
Matthew Eckwahl | Dec 28, 2017 | 3 min read
Long road trip over the holidays? Endless pipetting at the bench? Here’s how to keep your brain occupied.
Opinion: Taxable Tuition = Trouble for Graduate Students
Patricia M. Lawston and Michael T. Parker | Nov 30, 2017 | 4 min read
Our calculations find troubling increases in taxes if a US House–led tax plan succeeds, but tuition waivers, as the Senate bill has proposed, could actually reduce students’ tax burdens.
Opinion: How to Define Cell Type
Fred H. Gage, Sara B. Linker, and Tracy A. Bedrosian | Nov 1, 2017 | 4 min read
Advances in single-cell technologies have revealed vast differences between cells once thought to be in the same category, calling into question how we define cell type in the first place.
Opinion: Share Your Data
Cameron Craddock, Arno Klein, and Michael P. Milham | Oct 24, 2017 | 4 min read
Our analysis of a collection of open-access datasets quantifies their benefit to the scientific community.
Opinion: Microbiology Needs More Math
Mikhail Tikhonov | Oct 12, 2017 | 4 min read
Empirical data and humans’ biased interpretations can only get so far in truly understanding life at the microscale.
Opinion: Banning Shark Fin Sales in the U.S. Will Backfire
Robert Hueter | Sep 27, 2017 | 4 min read
A proposal to do so would cause waste, promote less sustainable fisheries, and penalize US fishers who follow best practices.
Opinion: Toxic Time Bombs
Robert Martin | Sep 25, 2017 | 5 min read
Decades of evidence point to the untoward health effects of endocrine disruptor exposures, yet little is being done to regulate the chemicals.
Opinion: Tales from the Nonacademic Career Path
Anna Kriebs | Sep 2, 2017 | 4 min read
Graduate students from The Scripps Research Institute share how they prepared to enter policy, law, biotech, and beyond.
Opinion: The Sweet Spot on the Teaching-Research Continuum
Nancy Stamp | Sep 2, 2017 | 4 min read
Overseeing assistant professors tasked with teaching freshmen how to conduct research revealed crucial gaps in STEM doctoral education. 
Opinion: The Flood Reduction Benefits of Wetlands
Siddharth Narayan and Michael W. Beck | Aug 31, 2017 | 3 min read
Conservationists and the insurance industry team up to model the economic benefits of marshes during hurricanes.
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