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Ancient DNA Boom Underlines a Need for Ethical Frameworks
The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.
Ancient DNA Boom Underlines a Need for Ethical Frameworks
Ancient DNA Boom Underlines a Need for Ethical Frameworks

The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.

The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.

scientific debate

A European robin on a tree branch
New Study Fuels Debate About Source of Birds’ Magnetic Sense
Catherine Offord | Jun 23, 2021 | 7 min read
A detailed analysis of cryptochrome 4 shows that the protein is highly sensitive to magnetic fields in vitro, but some researchers dispute the authors’ assertion that the findings could help explain avian magnetoreception.
EXCLUSIVE
Assorted pills and tablets
Frontiers Pulls Special COVID-19 Issue After Content Dispute
Catherine Offord | Apr 28, 2021 | 8 min read
The issue’s guest editors resign after falling out with the publisher over the management of papers, including a rejected manuscript on ivermectin, that were submitted for a special issue on drug repurposing for COVID-19.
plant consciousness conscious cognition behavior learning perceptions debate discussion not botanists biology biologists
Botanists Say Plants Are Not Conscious
Chia-Yi Hou | Jul 5, 2019 | 3 min read
Researchers push back against those who work in the field of plant neurobiology and claim plants can learn and have a form of consciousness.
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Belief in the Unseen
Bob Grant | Jun 1, 2019 | 3 min read
Science doesn’t require faith, but fostering trust in its practitioners can help the public move past unfounded doubts.
Image of the Day: Scarred Hearts
Ashley Yeager | Dec 4, 2018 | 1 min read
Maps of diving cells before and after heart attacks in mice offer additional evidence against the existence of cardiac stem cells.
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Anna Azvolinsky | May 18, 2018 | 4 min read
A recent toast to James Watson highlights a tolerance for bigotry many want excised from the scientific community.
irisin
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Researchers who first identified irisin quantitate levels of the hormone in human blood and show it is released during exercise.  
Lab Size Study Stirs Debate
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Do bigger labs churn out more high-impact papers? Not necessarily, according to a new analysis.
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The Scientist | Mar 1, 2014 | 2 min read
March 2014's selection of notable quotes
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Dan Cossins | Apr 29, 2013 | 2 min read
New libel laws for England and Wales should help protect scientific debate, but campaigners worry that legal costs remain a threat.
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Edyta Zielinska | Feb 3, 2013 | 2 min read
Harvard geneticists and anthropologists challenge the work of two economists who say there’s a link between genetic diversity and wealth.
Anticlimactic Debate
Beth Marie Mole | Oct 3, 2012 | 1 min read
Science, environmental, and health experts were left wanting by the first presidential debate.
GM Crop Field Intruder Arrested
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A protestor is arrested for trying to break into a field of genetically modified wheat at a UK agricultural research station.
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Edyta Zielinska | Mar 19, 2012 | 1 min read
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Bird Flu Debate Continues
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A series of articles published in open access journal mBio underscores the variety in opinion on whether a transmissible H5N1 strain should be studied.
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