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Research Issues
Reconsider race in research, US panel urges
An expert committee convened by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) is the latest to address concerns about how scientists...
Study debunks theory of black babies' risks with white doctors
Black babies in America are more than twice as likely to die before their first birthday than white babies. This shocking statistic has barely changed...
Amazon, social media flooded with unsound cancer info – UK study
The internet is awash with cancer misinformation, according to researchers, with misleading information receiving more engagement than factual sources, and with Amazon, the world’s...
Analysis finds one in seven scientific papers may be fake
In 2009, a now highly-cited study found an average of around 2% of scientists admitted to having falsified, fabricated, or modified data at least...
Common trait excludes African, Middle-Eastern patients from trials
Researchers have recently discovered that clinical trials, including those of new cancer drugs, may inappropriately exclude some people with a common benign trait (Duffy-null...
Three studies of MDMA treatment retracted by journal
US journal Psychopharmacology has retracted three papers about MDMA-assisted therapy, based on what the publication said was unethical conduct at one of the study sites where...
Leading drug scientist’s fraud charges shakes confidence in science
The fraud charges against City University of New York (CUNY) Professor Hoau-Yan Wang relating to Cassava Sciences’ proposed Alzheimer’s drug Simufilam, have rocked confidence...
Nordisk slams study linking rare blindness to semaglutide
Novo Nordisk has criticised as insufficient a recent study suggesting that people using Ozempic or Wegovy for treating obesity or type 2 diabetes may...
Alzheimer’s researcher in court for fraud
A scientist whose research has been at the centre of controversy over an Alzheimer’s drug candidate has been charged with fraud.
A grand jury has...
Research from leading US cancer lab recalled
Scientists in a prominent cancer lab at Columbia University have now had four studies retracted and a note added to a fifth accusing it...
Key abortion papers retracted
An American journal and publisher have retracted three papers about abortion, including one that was used in court cases to support the suspension of...
Medical research at stake as fake scientific papers balloon
Tens of thousands of bogus research papers are being published in journals in an international scandal that is worsening every year, with scientists warning...
Record 10 000 research papers retracted in 2023
The number of retractions issued for research articles in 2023 has passed 10 000 – smashing annual records – as publishers struggle to clean...
Conflict over Pfizer RSV vaccine trial informed consent
Pfizer is under fire by some experts, including in South Africa, for not informing pregnant women in its trial of maternal respiratory syncytial virus...
US study dispels men and women's body temperature differences
Women’s body temperatures are no more variable than men’s, despite menstrual cycles and hormonal variability, a recent monitoring study suggests, casting doubt on a...
Why obese people should not be excluded from drug trials
Although more than 40% of American adults are considered obese, the medications many take are rarely tested in bigger bodies, because they are not...
Unpacking new FDA guidance for psychedelic medicine
Drug companies are spending millions to incorporate psychedelic agents into healthcare, working with research institutions and patient organisations, and gaining support in Congress, while...
The power of the placebo effect
An advisory committee for the US Food and Drug Administration recently concluded that a popular over-the-counter oral decongestant (containing the ingredient phenylephrine) was no...
Researcher demoted by university wins Nobel Prize
Katalin Karikó, who is sharing with Drew Weissman the Nobel Prize in medicine for her work with mRNA vaccines, was previously demoted by the...
Ethics challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa big data research
A recent study highlights the need for the training of research ethics committees tasked with reviewing data-intense research protocols where data protection and sharing...
Why some cancer drugs have unexpected side effects
Researchers have revealed one reason why certain anti-cancer compounds can cause unexpected side effects, which could help guide an understanding of why some drugs...
New drugs a boost for Alzheimer's treatment but finding cause must be a priority
While the world finally has a disease-modifying drug for Alzheimer’s – and by the end of this year, likely to have another – and...
Shady clinical trials, faked, flawed studies abound, experts warn
Investigations suggest that, in some fields, at least one-quarter of clinical trials might be problematic or even entirely made up, warn some researchers, who...
Disgraced Stanford president resigns after falsified data
The president of America’s prestigious Stanford University has resigned after the board of trustees concluded several academic reports he had authored on brain development...
Century-old cancer chromosome puzzle solved by CRISPR
Biologists using modern gene-editing tools have discovered that the intuition of scientists from more than 100 years ago was right: cells with unusual numbers...
Chinese gene-editing scientist aims to cure Alzheimer’s
The Chinese scientist who shocked the world in 2018 with the announcement of gene-edited babies has now claimed to have a similar solution for curing Alzheimer’s,...
Vaping paper retracted after Big Tobacco funding discovery
The journal BMJ Open has retracted a paper – describing a study in which people with diabetes switched from cigarettes to vaping – after...
Scientists at ‘turning point’ with cancer vaccines
Scientists say their cancer research has reached a turning point, with many predicting more vaccines will be out in five years – specifically those...
New R1.2bn biomedical unit a weapon against future epidemics
Technology is the best weapon against future pandemics, believes renowned scientist Tulio de Oliveira, a professor of bioinformatics at the School for Data Science...
Sloppy standards at Chinese labs pose risk of deadly pathogen leaks
Inadequate, unsafe practices and equipment, and sub-optimal standards, characterise a number of Chinese research institutions, with scant regard, in many cases, paid to bio-safety...
US plans $300m database for Alzheimer’s research
The US National Institute on Aging (NIA) is funding a six-year, up to $300m project, to build a massive Alzheimer’s research database that can...
Merck, Eisai skin cancer drug trial fails to achieve goals
Drug companies Merck and Eisai are discontinuing a late-stage study of Keytruda plus Lenvima for people with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, as they showed no...
Scientists to send cancer cells to space in UK research quest
Cancer cells are heading to space in British scientific experiments to understand more about an incurable, deadly childhood tumour, which led to the death...
More than 100 labs studying deadly viruses, mapping project finds
The growing number of high-containment labs studying deadly animal and human viruses raises the risks of an accidental release or misuse of germs, like...
Alzheimer’s treatment trial fails
In another blow to Alzheimer’s treatment efforts in people in the very early stage of the disease, Eli Lilly has halted development of its...
Sports industry may have helped downplay dangers of concussions and head injuries
Fresh doubt has been cast over the sports industry’s influence on concussion and head injury research, and stirred up old allegations that sporting bodies...
Lab-grown mice created from two male cells
In a development that opens up radical new possibilities for reproduction and for treating infertility, Japanese scientists have created mice with two biological fathers...
More allegations against Stanford president’s Alzheimer’s study
Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a senior author of a study published in the journal Nature in 2008, has been accused by former scientists...
Most baby formula health claims not science-backed – global analysis
Researchers have urged manufacturers to market baby formula in plain packaging, saying that after their survey into health claims made for 608 products on...
SA researchers find limitations in Discovery’s mortality rates study model
The design of Discovery Health's 2019 risk adjustment model to determine standardised mortality rates across South African private hospital systems, with the aim of...