Category: Opinions and Perspectives

  • The Quest to Un-Muddy the Waters of Scientific Publishing

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    In most academic environments, retractions are a taboo topic. They are only mentioned as break room gossip or in cautionary tales meant to scare early-career scientists away from research misconduct. Ivan Oransky is determined to change that.  Oransky is a professor of medical journalism at New York University and editor-in-chief of The Transmitter—the editorially independent…

  • What the Ginkgo Can Teach Us about an Environmentally Conscious Future

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    The meticulously curated grounds at Rockefeller’s sixteen acre oasis host a wide variety of flora. As listed on the university’s tree map, the campus boasts a whopping forty-seven  species of trees. Upon taking a role as a research assistant at Rockefeller, I was astounded to see such a verdant island in the middle of our…

  • Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Bench and Computer Scientists?

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    One popular topic buzzing around laboratory corridors is the debate on whether artificial intelligence (AI) could replace hands-on bench work. While AI has proven its worth in various domains like economics, customer service, and climate science, it makes you think – what are the real limits to these technologies? To what extent will human work…

  • New Director May Bring Positive Changes to the NIH

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    In 2023, the Tri-I received 1,056 grants—nearly $600 million in total—from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).  While many members of the Tri-I community rely on such NIH funding, we represent just 1.5% of NIH-funded research. The NIH had a total budget of almost $48 billion last year, of which $40 billion was allocated…

  • Navigating Health Equity Amidst the Gene Editing Revolution

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      From the characterization of the double-helix structure of DNA, to the development of the first chimeric recombinant DNA in 1972, to the mapping of the human genome in 2001, technological improvements have historically led to advances in conceptual understanding of molecular and cellular biology. These conceptual advances in turn inform the next generation of…