News Updates

A host of start-up companies are working to turn the production of meat from animal cells grown in industrial bioreactors—with no need to raise and slaughter any animals—into commercial reality, AP reports. But numerous hurdles remain. In Issues, Alex Smith and Saloni Shah argue that the US government can and should help. Needed efforts, they write, include investing in research and development to identify and advance promising technologies, revising outdated and overly restrictive regulations, and helping people and communities enmeshed in conventional meat-producing operations transition smoothly and equitably as the industry evolves.

Although the majority of Americans still trust science and scientists, their trust has declined markedly since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. This represents a reversal from a previous period of increasing public trust. Kevin Finneran draws on his long experience as editor of Issues to propose some remedies. For one, scientists should rethink how they engage with the public. Their priority, he writes, should be “not to better educate the public about science, but to instead engage with nonscientists in a shared effort to understand societal challenges in which science could play an important role.”

International students flocked to US universities in record numbers this past academic year, with more than half of them enrolled in mathematics, computer science, engineering, and business. For Gaurav Khanna, this is a welcome turn. Writing in Issues, he sees international students providing important benefits. They bring tuition revenue at a time when many state schools are struggling financially, and they boost the economy within surrounding communities. On a larger scale, many of them stay in the United States after graduation, filling jobs in the science and technology sector and helping fuel entrepreneurial innovations.

The US Senate recently passed a bill setting policies to reduce the growing amounts of human-generated debris in space, by both removing current debris and minimizing creation of new debris. The bill now heads to the House for approval. None too soon, for Marilyn Harbert and Asha Balakrishnan. Authority over space activities is widely distributed across government, they write in Issues, making it critical for officials to devise effective measures to mitigate the orbital threats. “As the world prepares to put more objects into space,” they note, “the need for clear authority over how to manage debris will only increase.”

The FDA appears ready to approve the first commercial use of gene editing to treat a disease. In this case, a drug company is seeking to use the gene-editing tool CRISPR to treat sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder. “It’s extraordinary to think that we’re on the verge of an approval of the first CRISPR therapy,” Jennifer Doudna, a CRISPR codiscoverer, tells NPR. In an Issues interview, Doudna expands on what she sees as CRISPR’s “vast potential” in health care. She also stresses that policymakers, researchers, ethicists, and the public must cooperate to ensure that the revolutionary technology is used in a safe and responsible manner.