Commentary in 1995

Despite crises in image and funding, Italian biomedical research has reached a turning point. A brighter future is in prospect if the universities successfully reorganize themselves and new competitive institutes are established.

Opposition to the patenting of genomic inventions threatens to erode the foundation of intellectual property rights needed to convert innovative research into new drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests.

An account of the now common distrust of science, an explanation of its origins and a suggestion of what may, and indeed, should be done about it.

The prospect of a change of government in Spain is unsettling the country's scientific community. But the growth in scientific activity over the past 13 years of socialist rule is also now showing signs of exhaustion.

As the Caspian Sea continues to rise, related environmental disasters are destroying not only local human communities but also valuable biological resources in the lake itself.

My purpose is not to belittle the work the European Commission already does in support of European research, but to argue that there is a need for a more explicit science policy in Brussels — a greater clarity of purpose.

The recent spate of moral condemnation of fraud in science reflects the conservative nature of scientists; fraud, like error, is a normal part of science and cannot be legislated away.

The world is still sharply divided over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But we have since created a tradition of non-use of nuclear weapons that is a much better guide for the future than were those fateful bombings 50 years ago.

Discrepancies in environmental budgets of dioxin-like compounds may be explained by emissions from accidents involving chlorinated organic chemicals. This source may have important implications for regulation inventories.

The early eugenicists were not stupid, but they did not share our social values. The rise and fall of the eugenics movement is a history that modern medical geneticists would do well to heed.

Science policy is in the doldrums, having run out of intellectual steam and strong political commitment. It needs shaking up if it is to support and guide science and technology in a global, knowledge-based economy.

Universities in Britain are unable to cope with the demands of the modern research enterprise. But who will ensure that the necessary changes to the system are made?

Dramatic advances in neuroscience are changing and enriching our understanding of brain and behaviour. But reductionist interpretations of these advances can cause great harm.

Conventional wisdom holds that the proper next step for an effective climate treaty is to negotiate binding targets and timetables for greenhouse gases. But this is not the best approach.

The principle of academic freedom is an inalienable right in any civilized country. How should the state support academic research without interfering with it?

In his recent book Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Pope John Paul II airs his views on human reproduction. The pity is that he ignores most of modern genetics and embryology.

Anniversarial commemorations this year include the discovery of X-rays, the calculation of the position of the undiscovered planet Neptune, the emergence of syphilis and the mandatory serving of lime juice to British sailors.