Tuesday, 21 May, 2013

Denial of science, science of denial Tobacco and cancer. CFCs and ozone. Vaccines and autism. And evolution through natural selection, acid rain and global warming. Why do the facts get lost in a cacophony of argument, falsehood and outright denial? A conference looks at why the media get taken for a ride, and how they can improve.
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Cholera: Haiti’s latest scourge

Cholera can kill with record speed. The bacterium is easy to control — if wastewater and drinking water are treated. Haiti — chronically corrupt, painfully poor, and wasted by the January quake, is paradise for the cholera bug. How is cholera prevented, and what are the enduring gifts of this deadly bug?

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Fearing flu, finding vaccine

How is flu vaccine is made in eggs and animal cells? What is being done to protect us against a fast-changing, deadly virus?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

How do public health officials determine which strain of influenza to create vaccines for each year?

This year’s influenza vaccine in the United States contains three strains of the influenza virus. Last March, experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization chose those strains based on the varieties of flu virus that were present at the end of North America’s flu season. The [...]

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Sick Spinach: Meet Killer E coli

Just months after contaminated spinach causes grave diarrhea, another outbreak. What is E. coli O157:H7, and why is it so dangerous? Got any bright ideas for constraining this killer bug?

Thursday, October 5th, 2006

Bird Flu Spreads

What is bird flu, and why don’t we have a vaccine yet? How can we contain this influenza? Would a poorly matched vaccine be worth making?

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

Vaccines You Can Eat

Edible vaccines offer cheap, easy solution to halt disease in developing countries, but roadblocks remain. Is this an acceptable type of gene-modified food?

Thursday, November 21st, 2002

AIDS Still Spreading

As AIDS spreads, we look at some nasty predictions. What can old epidemics tell us about the future of AIDS? How will AIDS affect the African economy?

Friday, July 26th, 2002

AIDS Vaccines: Why No Progress?

Africa to get cheap AIDS drugs, but vaccines still elusive. Why is this virus so evasive?

Thursday, May 10th, 2001

Alzheimer’s Disease

New treatments, new understandings offer new hope for Alzheimer’s disease.

Thursday, September 7th, 2000