Each year, a particular kind of infection kills more than 35,000 people in the United States. Those deaths are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. And some scientists are concerned about how the current pandemic might affect such bacteria. That’s because hospitalized patients with coronavirus will often be given antibiotics to fight any secondary bacterial infection, not to fight the virus itself.…
A survey of more than 4,000 researchers in the United States suggests that better coordination at an institutional and national level could make hundreds of thousands more tests for coronavirus available. The survey was prompted by a Nature investigation published on 9 April, revealing that several top university laboratories that have received regulatory approval to process tests for SARS-CoV-2 are operating at half their potential capacity.…
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is playing a leading role in focusing the power of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and other high-tech tools on the fight against coronavirus. Now it’s laying out an array of funding opportunities worth billions of dollars to researchers and innovators. “America’s vibrant innovation ecosystem has always brought outside-the-box ideas and technologies to the forefront to address great challenges.…
President Donald Trump on Friday signed a sweeping spending bill to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, pumping billions of dollars into prevention efforts and research in hopes of quickly producing a vaccine for the deadly disease. Trump signed the bill on the same day worldwide cases surpassed 100,000 Lawmakers had worked through the weekend before resolving a dispute over vaccine pricing…
The White House on Monday sent lawmakers an urgent $2.5 billion plan to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets. The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment and protective equipment. The request was immediately slammed by Democrats as insufficient and came as coronavirus fears were…
In the 2021 budget request sent to Congress yesterday (February 10), President Donald Trump has requested that the National Institutes of Health’s budget drop from more than $41 billion this year to $38.7 billion, a 7 percent cut, and that the National Science Foundation’s budget drop by 6 percent to around $6.3 billion, Science reports. Science advocates are not pleased. “The administration’s proposed budget…
Lab animals used for research by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have a new lease on life. A recent policy change by the federal agency now permits the adoption, transfer and retirement of healthy animals to shelters and sanctuaries after they’ve been involved in lab experiments. Animals were previously euthanized after being used in experiments. The policy took effect…
Next week, in the first major contest of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, Democratic Party voters in Iowa will pick the candidate they want to face off against President Donald Trump. One of the top contenders, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, has come out with a proposal to keep so-called junk science, supported by industry, out of federal policy decisions. Many…
A recent Trump administration decision to limit funding of research that uses fetal tissue is already disrupting research into major diseases, including AIDS, Down syndrome and diabetes, scientists say. The controversial federal funding rules, announced seven months ago, are reshaping scientists’ research paths and the grants they seek from the National Institutes of Health. Graduate students cannot get training grants if…
For 20 years, the U.S. government has urged companies, universities, and other institutions that conduct clinical trials to record their results in a federal database, so doctors and patients can see whether new treatments are safe and effective. Few trial sponsors have consistently done so, even after a 2007 law made posting mandatory for many trials registered in the database.…