Opinion in 1995

Next week's crucial meeting of the parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty cannot put off some consideration of what will happen to countries believed to have nuclear weapons up their sleeves.

Australia's research organization needs a period without formal inquiry into its ways of working.

Responsibility for Russia's modest interest in the human genome may be characteristically politicized.

Far from being a diversion, last week's argument at Berlin over the obligations of poor countries on global warming is a sign that neglected issues are at last being taken up.

There is no technical fix to prevent a repetition of last week's sarin attack, but some things might help.

The case is growing stronger for re-opening debate on the European Patent Convention in the light of tensions generated by the growing interaction between the patent system and the academic research community.

A persuasive case against the legalization of soft drugs can be taken as a case against tobacco and alcohol.

The latest pharmaceutical merger is necessarily a risk but is also an opportunity.

Britain's second annual 'science week' provokes questions about the aims of the public understanding of science - and about the defects of the educational system, still unreformed.

The first serious test of the Rio Convention on Climate Change will come later this month, when the members of the treaty decide what happens next. They need above all to stay cool.

The British government should not be content that 30 per cent of young people enter higher education.

The decision of the Strasbourg parliament to throw out a draft directive on genetic manipulation will do less harm to biotechnology than to the parliament itself.

There should be relief that the new US Congress has failed to pass its talismanic constitutional amendment.

The planned merger of Glaxo and Wellcome raises questions broader than the interests of shareholders.

The conference of the members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must strive to continue the treaty, but not to make it perpetual; the world will need regular reminders of the hazards of proliferation for decades to come.

The collapse of a British merchant bank is not a signal to ban risky trading, but an argument for transparency.

The search for the genetic roots of antisocial behaviour is now, and may always, be premature.

Britain is rehearsing again the role of black sheep at Europe's next intergovernmental conference, running the risk of alienating potential allies and perpetuating confusion among its voters.

The US courts' worries about Microsoft's success should be diverted into more tangible directions.

France should commission an independent inquiry in the contaminated-blood saga.