Online Editorials Archive

Creationists go Open Access - Questions to match Pre-Ordained Answers.

Fundamentalist Christian support for 'Creation Science' is currently enjoying a mini-boom with the recent opening of Answers in Genesis' 'Creation Museum' in Kentucky (over 250,000 visitors in 2007!) and now "Praise the Lord, a technical publication to go with it", the online, Open Access, Answers Research Journal (ARJ). However, as Jeremy Garwood reports, since this journal already knows the 'answers', perhaps a better alternative title might read: "Find the right questions to fit the answers". more

Creation goes online

"The Encyclopedia of Life" (EOL) is an ambitious project that aims to catalogue all living creatures on the world wide web. Melanie Estrella sneaks a first glimpse at this database of biodiversity and assesses its chances of becoming a virtual blockbuster.more

Plagiarism Pandemic

Well, who hasn't done it? Who's never copied a best friend's beautiful unicorn in kindergarden or "borrowed" a classroom neighbour's math homework? What for children is a venial sin, is for scientists an unpardonable offence called plagiarism. In science, as the number of published articles continues to rise so does the instance of theft, as reported by Melanie Estrella. more

Beautiful mutants; Blue-eyed cognation

"Gentlemen prefer blondes" and this desirable hair colour is often complemented by sparkling blue eyes. Danish scientists have now discovered that blue eye colour evolved due to a single mutation, uniting all blue-eyed individuals as members of a global family. By Melanie Estrella more

Raw, medium, well done, or cloned?

(February 1st 2008) Start the day with a bowl of cereal soaked in cloned cow's milk then dine upon a cloned cow's steak. This could soon become reality in the USA, following the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) decision to allow the sale of cloned animal products. However, reports Melanie Estrella, Europe remains sceptical. more

One clone is not enough

(January 22nd 2008) Last week the scientific press was animated by another stem cell research report. US-scientists announced their cloning of human blastocytes from adult fibroblasts. Appraisals of this feat ranged from 'important first step' to 'spectacular breakthrough'. However, is one clone enough? asks Karin Hollricher. more

Darwin's Dust discloses microbial hitchhikers

(January 18th 2008) Lying on racks in the cellars of natural history museums, many treasures await rediscovery. One of them - hermetically sealed old dust - has recently been dusted off. Karin Hollricher more

Pants down, funds up

(January 15th 2008) Parallel Dimension: Nude doctors and clothed patients shown on a 2008 calendar of Italian physicians, nurses and caretakers of the Pascale Foundation, a cancer research institute in Naples. By posing naked except for striped boxers, dotted pants, sexy stockings and masks, the Italian doctors want to call attention to the desperate funding situation in their country, reports Melanie Estrella. more

Watson's black shares - a PR-gag?

(January 9th 2008) James Watson is one of the most famous scientists of the 20th century. Watson is not only well known for his groundbreaking discovery of the quintessence of life, the structure of the DNA molecule, but the 79 year old Nobel laureate also has an affinity for provocative statements, his latest claim being that blacks are less intelligent than whites. Irony of fate: An analysis has now revealed that 16 percent of Watson's genome very likely stem from a black ancestor of African descent. Melanie Estrella reports. more

Earthwake (2): Science in News, Current Affairs, and General Programming

(December 17th 2007) In the concluding part of this meeting report, we will consider other forms that science can take on television and media, including the question of space science propaganda. By Jeremy Garwood. more

Beautiful or Ugly?

(December 13th 2007) Usually, colourful fMRI images captivate headline makers. Therefore it's especially astounding that a neuro-art paper reporting on how humans perceive beautiful art didn't find its way into the press. Lab Times did not overlook this paper. By Karin Hollricher more

Spring forward, Fall back

(December 3rd 2007) Hopping back and forth between many time zones across the planet for holidays or business, tens of thousands of people have become accustomed to dealing with jet lags of several hours. It's not a big deal. That makes us wonder why some start whining when the clocks are altered by a single hour for Daylight Saving Time. Melanie Estrella has a look at adjusting the daily routine to new rhythms. more

Earthwake: Science Across Television

(November 28th 2007) Have you ever wondered about the transmission of “science” through television? Or the reach of television as an educator of the massed television audiences across the European continent? Why is science on television anyway, and how do programme-makers choose what science is shown, and what format it should take? A workshop report in four parts by Jeremy Garwood. more

Human embryos no longer required ?

(November 23rd 2007) Two research groups reported that they have reprogrammed human somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells showing almost all features of embryonic stem cells. The public press, scientists and many politicians are celebrating these new findings as a breakthrough in the long search for an answer to ethical problems posed by the use of human embryonic stem cells. Is this the first step in reprogramming the whole stem cell research? more

Dressing up for Seasonal Death

(November 16th 2007) Just like lifestyle journalists, science writers have their seasonal themes, too. Instead of stories about celebrities on summer vacation or how-to's on christmas decoration however, we deliver news on tick-borne encephalitis or the science behind leaves turning red and yellow in autumn. Fall foliage has been a particularly fruitful topic in the last years as it has everything a seasonal research theme should have: emotional appeal, a high profile and conflicting theories with new findings every year. An overview from Brynja Adam-Radmanic. more

Place evidence at the centre

(November 5th 2007) When science meets media the outcome is generally uncertain. Press coverage of scientific issues ranges from serious reports, delving deep into details, to stories on absolute nonsense. When it comes to advertisements, however, misinformation and offensive, dodgy claims are on the agenda. Brynja Adam-Radmanic reports on how a group of scientists in Great Britain is making a stand. more

Young European talent - facts and figures

(October 9th 2007) Grants for young scientists from the European Research Council were snapped up “like hot cakes” according to statistical information based on the first round of applications. Karin Hollricher takes a deeper look at the facts and figures. more

"The Lone Genome"

(September 18th 2007) Scientists in the United States have published a genomic fingerprint of social isolation. They argue that feelings of social isolation are linked to alterations in the immune system activity. A closer look at the "first systematic analysis of genome-wide transcriptional alterations as a potential mechanism of social-epidemiological influences on human health", from Karin Hollricher. more

The reason why

(August 19th 2007) A recent survey by two US psychologists revealed 237 separate motives why people have sex. Susanne Dorn takes a closer look. more

Who was Dr. Craemer?

(August, 10th 2007) The German concentration camp doctors who murdered hundreds of people for the sake of science are regarded as Nazi monsters and cranks which worked apart from serious science. One of those doctors was Sigmund Rascher. He killed probably more than one hundred people. Rascher was a strange person and an incompetent scientist. A compre-hensive biography of his bizarre life and death has recently been published. But was Rascher really isolated from and despised by established German scientists? Siegfried Baer probes further. more

Paper Heroes

(July 16th 2007) "Observations of the Owl" - The Owl reports how a faculty was confronted with a potential case of multiple honorary authorship! more

Just a dream -
National interests impede the establishment of a European University

(July 10th 2007) Of course, it will still be called the "European Institute of Technology" (EIT), an analogy to the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). But be nobody's fool, what the EU member states recently agreed is far from bearing affinity to the MIT. Instead of a university for the European research elite, which European Commission President José Manuel Barroso had dreamed of establishing, the EIT will become yet another network of national research units, as Brynja Adam-Radmanic reports.more

Canine mutation creates strong tail wind

(June 13th 2007) Faster, higher, stronger - the Olympic motto incites athletes to train hard to achieve top performances. However, a driving ambition does not necessarily make a winner; this needs, above all, natural skill and talent. This can be conferred by genes and mutations. US-scientists found a new gene that controls speed and muscle mass of racing dogs, the middle-distance runners amongst animal athletes. After all, pace isn't achieved by magic, reports Susanne Dorn. more

Music in the genes...laah-lah-laah-lah-lah....

(June 4th 2007) Do DNA and protein sequences sing unsung songs? That seems to be a slightly far-fetched idea. Yet, some researchers are converting those sequences into melodies. The newest contribution was created by Rie Takahashi and Jeffrey Miller. Is it the same old song or a new chart breaker? A query from Anja Possart. more

C₂₂H₃₀N₆O₄S - a Wonder Pill!?!

(June 1st 2007) Sildenafil is well on the way to becoming a blockbuster. It is not only used to overcome erectile dysfunction but since the beginning of this year, it has also been used as a therapy for pulmonary hypertension. Now Argentinean scientists have reported that it also helps golden hamsters to recover from jet lag! The most serious side effect observed was - wait for it ... calls to Karin Hollricher! more

From YouTube to DnaTube

(May 30th 2007) You may search for - and even find - science videos amongst the Google junk between girls going wild and communiqués of Islamic fundamentalists. Some science clips went astray within the YouTube videos that run the gamut from being hilarious to absolute trash. Just recently, three sites were launched sharing only science videos. Karin Hollricher reports. more

Carrot and stick

(May 15th 2007) Peer review can be a painstaking process. Authors are on tenterhooks waiting for the evaluations of their papers; referees tend to hold-off on reading the papers. So the process can easily become a long - sometimes too long - drawn out haul. How can one give referees a hand? Blacklist the lazy or unreliable ones? Reimburse sedulity? Anja Possart reports. more

Blast Past the Bottleneck - Brute Force or Irresistible Attraction?

(May 4th 2007) Metagenomics is the tantalising shortcut for microbiology. Skip pure culture, skip describing species and go straight to the genomic diversity of bacterial life out there. Craig Venter is one of the many modern adventurers responding to this call. He is certainly the individual with the broadest approach and the fattest purse in the game. However, public research funding and chemical companies are also hot on his heels in the race to spend an obscene amount of money on metagenomics, reports Brynja Adam-Radmanic. more

Scientists Bone-Up on Bones - the Oldest Protein Ever to be Sequenced

(Apr 30th 2007) Tyrannosaurus rex, a formidable and gruesome dinosaur, responsible for firing man's imagination ever since its discovery. A myriad of stories have evolved about this giant carnivore, most of them full of blood and gore. Scientists have recently added a new one, less terrifying but in no way less shocking. Annette Hupfer more

Whither Farming: Biodynamic, Organic or Science?

(Apr 24th 2007) Organic and biodynamic farming are currently on the rise across Europe. The underlying concepts, however, are hardly based on scientific data but rather on ideological belief, as Scottish plant biologist Anthony Trewavas comments on our previous editorial "Occultists conquer Kassel University". more

Heads up, Mr. Watson!

(Apr 16th 2007) Scientists argue that we need whole genome sequencing. But do we really need to know who supplied his DNA for that job? If you say "yes" - then who should be the first person to have their individual genome sequence published? There's no better choice than James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA structure. Karin Hollricher more

Foundation Professorship - Nothing but Nonsense?

(Apr 8th 2007) In the 19th and the first third of the 20th century, Germany and Austria were not only the pacemakers of science but also prolific producers of ideologies and occult thinking systems. The Germans not only had Koch, Einstein, Planck and Behring but also Hahnemann, Marx, Freud, Reich, Hitler and Steiner. German pseudoscience was as successfully exported as German pharmaceutical products. After the Second World War Germany's leadership in science faded and so did the German production of new pseudoscientific systems. However, the old ones lingered on and increased in strength following the breakdown of moral and common sense in 1968. Astonishingly, there are currently six British universities, which offer BSc degrees in homeopathy. Siegfried Bär more

Who's afraid of Impact Factors?

(Apr 2nd 2007) In 2008 British academia faces another Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). Scientists and institutions fear the panels and suspect them of using flawed measures such as a journal's Impact Factors to evaluate the work of individuals. Clinicians especially claim medicine has been severely damaged by the way government has assessed research quality and allocated funding in the last twenty years. Brynja Aadam-Radmanic. more

Sport is healthy!

(Mar 2nd 2007) Exercise strengthens muscles, trains brains and enhances libido. But there's much more than that to sport! Training can even reduce severe effects of defective genes on the vascular system in mice. Housing conditions can affect the differences observed between knockout and wild-type mice, warns a new report in PloS One. Karin Hollricher. more

Scientists - such an unpredictable bunch!

(Feb 26th 2007) Not every good scientist is a good peer reviewer, too. That's why editors would like to be able to predict reviewer performance, before recruiting a new researcher for their journal. But what qualities in a scientist's CV raise an editor's hopes of a good review standard? Seniority? Academic rank? Training in critical appraisal? A new study shows that none of the criteria are of any use for picking the right person for the job! Brynja Aadam-Radmanic.more

Petition for Public Access
Open up!

(Feb 23rd 2007) The open access movement argues that Publicly-funded research should be made publicly accessible. Sounds logical, doesn't it? Yes, says a last year's study of the European Commission. By signing an Internet petition for guaranteed public access you can now urge decision-makers to eventually put this awareness into action, reports Brynja Aadam-Radmanic. more

Occultists conquer Kassel University

(Feb 1st 2007) The German University of Kassel awarded two foundation professorships to apparent proponents of anthroposophical pseudoscience. One of them even claims that natural spirits like elves and kobolds truly exist. Siegfried Bär reports, assisted by Winfried Koeppelle more

Dispute on cancer drug: US licenser bugs German biotech company

(Dec 18th 2006) GPC Biotech is well on the way to earning hundreds of millions of dollars with a new cancer drug. However, a letter from America has challenged everything; the small biotech company has to resist drastic claims "made in bad faith, [being] completely baseless and without merit". more

Smile, you're on video!

(11.12.2006) Trying to learn experimental procedures by following the instructions of the "Materials and Method" part of a paper can be quite an adventure. Written instructions, that seem so clear to the author, can easily be misunderstood by others. The video how-to's, published by the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), a new online journal, come as an answer to this problem. more

The Roots of Genomic Individuality

(30.11.2006) It came as a surprise: The genomes of two individuals differ remarkably in regions made up of certain DNA segments in variable copy numbers. more

Phoenix - reborn from junk DNA

(27.11.2006) Thierry Heidmann's team at the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif near Paris brought back a viral fossil that infected our ancestors millions of years ago. Once again this raised fears of a pandemic straight out of the Petri dish. But "Phoenix" is far from being a killer. Brynja Adam-Radmanic took a closer look. more

Identify Yourself!

(15.11.2006) We all possess a multitude of ID cards, PINs and passwords for most aspects of our lives. Nevertheless, Matthew E. Falagas thinks there is still one missing: an Unique Author Identification Number (UAIN) for scientists. more

Ode to the Poplar

(10.11.2006) The first complete DNA sequence of a tree, Populus trichocarpa, has been released. Known to laymen as Black Cottonwood or poplar, this forest tree is not only of interest for plant researchers but also ecologically and commercially valuable. The knowledge of its DNA sequence fulfils many a scientist's dream. more

Should industry hug academics more?

(09.11.2006) Interview with Günter Stock. We need more public-private partnerships, demands Günter Stock, President of the Berlin Brandenburgische Academy of Sciences (Germany), former member of the management board of Schering AG. Isn't funding research rather the duty of a government, asks LabTimes reporter Karin Hollricher. more

Time for Nobels

(06.10.2006) This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded for work showing how cells essentially produce RNA transcripts of genes. How cells degrade transcripts again by the regulatory process of RNA interference is simultaneously honoured by the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. more

Knockout mice library starts

(05.10.2006) Watch the corks fly! A global research initiative aimed at generating a comprehensive and public collection of knockout mice has gained support. Does a dream come true, asks Rafael Flores. more

Good Ome(n)s?

(02.10.2006) A short note to keep you updated on the latest biological "-omes". more

Thrashing in the Net

(25.09.2006) "Observations of the Owl" - The Owl reports a true story indicating that research networks sometimes trample on talent rather than create synergy. more

Glivec is Fraught with Problems

(02.08.2006) Glivec has been a ray of hope for cancer patients as well as a fat and juicy cash cow for its distributor Novartis. Now recent findings indicate that the award-winning anti cancer drug has multiple hidden drawbacks. Should patients be worried? more

Merging Bioinformatics and medical informatics in Europe

(08.08.2006) A report from inside the INFOBIOMED network of excellence. A European Research Area - ERA - that's what European politicians dream of. But how can a European research area be integrated and strengthened? The INFOBIOMED Network of Excellence presents innovative approaches.more

Sweden: New law cuts ground from under young scientists' feet

(25.07.2006) Being a young enthusiastic scientist is not an easy path to tread. Not only does one have to hope for best results but one also has to deal with absurd laws and rules regulating working conditions. Swedish researchers are currently coping with new rules limiting temporary employment. more

Nature thrives on diversity ...

... so does science!! Swiss scientists are now raising the alarm. Whilst new species are being discovered and described daily, taxonomists are specifying those creatures which are endangered in the Switzerland. The Swiss Academy of Sciences has called for better funding. more

Men are better navigators - but why?

Evolutionary hypotheses to explain differences - sometimes hard to swallow, as Brynja Adam-Radmanic experienced. When it comes to navigation my husband and I are typical examples of our gender. He always finds the way back to the hotel in foreign cities. I admit a task that isn't that easy for me but until now I thought why be concerned about it. There's nothing to be ashamed of, we share this sex difference with a lot of our mammalian cousinship. more

Precarious working conditions provoke fury

Facing the prospect of no income, no social security and no jobs, young Spanish PhD students have had enough. The Federación de Jóvenes Investigadores (FJI), a nationwide organisation of young Spanish researchers, demonstrated in Madrid on May 20th to demand better working conditions. more

Systems biology? Just do it!

Systems biology is booming but its proponents are struggling to come up with a concise definition of the discipline. Do they really need one? more

How to be elite without being elitist

A comment on the quarrels over an Austrian Elite-Universtiy by Barry Dickson, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna. The bold vision of Zeilinger and co to establish an Elite-Uni in Austria is now dead. Political will alone will not suffice to create a leading international scientific research institute out in the woods. more

Multi-Culti Science

"Observations of the Owl" - The Owl reports a true story indicating that funding decisions are not always based on pure quality only. more

Patchwork regulations

Karin Hollricher comments on the principles of stem cell research recently set up by experts of the so-called Hinxton Group. more