HealthDecember 9, 2015
The Truth about Fetal Tissue Research
The use of aborted fetal tissue has sparked controversy in the U.S., but many scientists say it is essential for studies of HIV, development and more
Stories by Meredith Wadman
Meredith Wadman, a staff writer for Science, has covered medical research politics for 20 years. Her book The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease (Viking, 2017) will be out in paperback in February.
The SciencesMay 31, 2013
Gun Researcher Turns to Crowd-Funding
With government funds scarce, an economist aims to support firearm study through private donations
PolicyApril 30, 2013
Firearms Research: The Gunfighter
A researcher studies the consequences of the ubiquity of guns in the U.S.
April 15, 2013
Is the World's Top Neuroscience Group Quashing Dissent on the U.S. BRAIN Initiative?
The president of the Society for Neuroscience asked its members to stay positive about a multibillion project to record all the brain's neurons in action, but some psychologists have called foul on this scientific advocacy
January 23, 2013
NIH Told to Retire Most Research Chimps
About half of 21 ongoing biomedical and behavioral experiments would be ended, under advice from a working group of external agency advisors
January 22, 2013
Obama Trumps Congress and Orders Research into Gun Violence
The president issued a memorandum directing the CDC and other public-health agencies to conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and the ways to prevent it, doing an end-run around congressional moves for several years to muzzle such efforts
January 8, 2013
Supreme Court Ensures Funding of Research Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells
The high court declined to hear a final appeal, thus ending a bid to block NIH support for research using these cells
December 18, 2012
Research Beagles Released as Pets
70 puppies were released after activists alerted the Indian government that the animals had been falsely described as "pets" by a contract organization seeking to import them
November 13, 2012
Obama Victory Reopens Door to Emissions Curbs and Possible Carbon Tax
Reelected, Obama said he plans to ensure that the U.S. is a global leader in research, technology and clean energy. The "fiscal cliff" might even open the door again to carbon tax discussions
The SciencesSeptember 24, 2012
NIH Retires Research Chimps at Troubled Facility
U.S. federal support for invasive chimpanzee research continues to wane
HealthSeptember 20, 2012
FedEx and UPS Commit to Not Ship Research Mammals
The two biggest cargo carriers, under activist pressure, affirm that they will not ship research mammals and nonhuman primates
August 24, 2012
Chimp Research Facility Found Not Guilty of Breeding Animals
The NIH ruled that a Louisiana animal research facility that allowed its chimpanzees to reproduce in captivity was not breaking a breeding moratorium
July 6, 2012
Activists Call for Final NIH Research Chimps to Be Retired
In the wake of a 2011 federal report concluding that chimp research is scientifically unnecessary, an animal rights group wants the NIH director to to ensure that chimps still in agency labs are retired
May 23, 2012
U.S. Government Sets Out Alzheimer's Plan
A health-agency windfall includes funding for two promising clinical trials, one focusing on prevention and the other on early treatment
HealthSeptember 5, 2011
Congressional Paralysis Puts NIH Drug-Development Center in Limbo
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences needs to be written into the still-unfinished 2012 federal budget