By Alistair Barr and Ron Winslow (The Wall Street Journal) – Google Inc. is designing tiny magnetic particles to patrol the human body for signs of cancer and other diseases, in the latest example of the Internet giant’s sweeping ambition.
By Andy Harris (The New York Times) WASHINGTON — EVERY year the National Institutes of Health receives almost $30 billion in federal funds to invest in biomedical research. The bulk of that money goes to researchers who are in many cases esteemed in their fields — but also, in many cases, beyond the age when … Continued
By Eric S. Lander And Louis V. Gerstner Jr. (The Wall Street Journal) – Twenty-six years ago, Ted Stanley found his son, Jonathan, in a straitjacket in a locked psychiatric ward in Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital.
By Matthew Herper (Forbes) – For 85% of kids with a terrible cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chemotherapy is a cure–but not for Emily Whitehead. Diagnosed at 5, she suffered an infection from her first round of chemo and nearly lost her legs.
By Hannah Bloch (The Wall Street Journal) – I love it when people tell me I can’t do something,” says Jim Olson. A pediatric oncologist at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the founder of two biotech companies, Dr. Olson specializes in brain cancer.
By Denise Grade ( The New York Times) – Doctors have taken an important step toward a long-sought goal: harnessing a person’s own immune system to fight cancer.
(PNAS Journal) – The long-held but erroneous assumption of never-ending rapid growth in biomedical science has created an unsustainable hypercompetitive system that is discouraging even the most outstanding prospective students from entering our profession—and making it difficult for seasoned investigators to produce their best work. This is a recipe for long-term decline, and the problems … Continued
By Teresa Tritch (The New York Times) – There has been an upsurge in philanthropy for scientific research by America’s billionaires. As documented by William J. Broad in a recent report for The Times, the sums are huge; the quests serious; the results impressive. Still, in size and scope, philanthropy pales in comparison to public … Continued
By William J. Broad (The New York Times) – Funding the Future – As government financing of basic science research has plunged, private donors have filled the void, raising questions about the future of research for the public good.
Dramatically fewer grants are going to young scientists. That’s a cause for alarm. By Ronald J. Daniels and Paul Rothman (The Wall Street Journal) – Youth will be served, as the saying goes, but increasingly that’s not the case in scientific research. The National Institutes of Health reports that between 1980 and 2012, the share … Continued