Editorials in 2008

A company's lawsuit against researchers should not be allowed to intimidate others.

Italy's universities should be free to hire who they want — and should be accountable for the result.

The response to the financial crisis needs to go beyond the immediate pressures. Policy-makers must seize this moment to solidify the science and innovation required for sustained economic growth.

Researchers should support new initiatives aimed at engaging them with human-rights groups.

The US Food and Drug Administration is misguided in its approach to genetically modified animals.

Research is needed into the way individuals use their genomic information, and into protection from its abuse by others.

The values of scientific enquiry, rather than any particular policy positions on science, suggest a preference for one US presidential candidate over the other.

Science in developing countries can withstand the current economic climate.

An experiment by the Gates Foundation is food for thought for other research agencies.

The commercialization of personal genomics is moving with dizzying speed and scientists need to find innovative ways of discussing the implications with consumers.

Europe needs to find a responsible way out of its climate-regulation impasse.

A series of Essays examines what science has to say about being human.

In an attempt to boost its struggling economy, Italy's government is focusing on easy, but unwise, targets.

Scientists need to ask themselves if their meeting or conference is really necessary.

A congressional investigation alleges that some researchers have failed to report all the drug-company money that they have received — and that universities may have been too slow to police them.

Proprietary data formats may be legally defensible but open standards can be a better spur for innovation.

And the IUCN has more to offer than just data on the nearly extinct.

Malaria's moment has come, but success in control, let alone eradication, demands a renewed commitment to basic research.

The next NIH director must juggle stagnant budgets, unhappy grantees and investigative lawmakers.