Is the B word abused, to the extent that its impact is diluted? To answer that question, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, home of cutting edge biomedical research and host to prestigious meetings on everything from virology to cancer, thought it opportune for the two cultures to get together. The meeting, appropriately billed "Breakthrough! How News Influences Health Perception and Behavior," linked journalists, scientists, and public information officers from Feb. 27 to March 1, 1998 to discuss how the media translates, and sometimes garbles and sensationalizes, the results of cancer research for public consumption. It was a meeting whose import would increase in the months to come, as the accuracy of several media reports, some on scientific matters, would come under public scrutiny.
Attendees gathered with recent gaffes echoing in their ears. Last fall the media had a field day with the prospect of headless humans grown for spare parts, following ...
