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Dr David Shannon unhappy with scientists` advising of the government on foot and mouth - In February`s Science & Public Affairs
February 18, 2002Main story in this month’s Science & Public Affairs:
DEFRA’s newly retired chief scientist Dr David Shannon says he is unhappy with the way scientists advised government on foot and mouth. “The committee which advised the Government’s Chief Scientist, Professor David King, during the foot and mouth outbreak, had enormous influence on policy without having formal responsibility for the consequences of its advice,” says Shannon. He suggests that a formally constituted committee would have looked considerably different and that the initial epidemiological models were done without a full understanding of the disease and the nature of the industry and its practices.
But, in Professor David King’s right to reply, he takes issue with Dr Shannon’s comments. He maintains that the group was broad-based from the start with David Shannon a member, alongside vets and virologists from Government, the Institute of Animal Health and from the field. Professor King also points out that a formal committee could have taken months to get going but also that the requirement for all advice to be published was met and group members participated in media presentations.
Also In this month’s Science & Public Affairs:
SPATalk – Does the UK need more nuclear power?
Adrian Ham, Director of the British Nuclear Industry Forum spars with Mark Johnston, Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace UK over the future of nuclear power in the UK. Ham believes that the only way to effectively meet carbon reductions over the next decade is through the continued use of nuclear energy. Johnston however is concerned about the legacy of nuclear waste burdening future generations and believes that renewable resources have enough potential to more than meet our present energy demands.
Opinion - Clear on cloning
James Yeandel, communications manager at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, brings us up to date on the recent changes in cloning legislation. Government rushed to close a loophole in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 at the end of 2001. The amended law banned reproductive cloning but did not stop therapeutic cloning. In January 2002 the Department of Health appealed against this interpretation and won. This means that all research on cloned embryos is covered, and will be regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Features
Forecasting the nation’s health
Met Office forecasts predict heart attacks as well as cold snaps, explains Sancha Tetlow of the Met Office press office. Working with the Department of Health over the last year the Met Office has found that weather affects the frequency of heart attacks, as well as migraines, moods and mental health. The aim is to tell hospitals whether their emergency admissions are going to be rising or falling and last year the programme forecast the two big differences from the norm – a very quiet Christmas and a very busy March.
Gender and science in the European Union
Professor Teresa Rees, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, updates the continuing struggle of women scientists in the EU. While in many EU member states women are the majority of undergraduates, even in some science subjects, few make it to the upper echelons in scientific careers. Many countries have now instituted positive action measures such as supporting networks of women scientists and encouraging the development of role model and mentoring schemes.
Bringing science to life
Dr. David Leaback, Lecturer in Biochemistry, London University, aims to empower the young and underprivileged by getting them to realise that scientific figures grew up in their neighbourhoods. During National Science Week, schoolchildren will perform a play at Guy’s Hospital about two of its medical students when science was beginning to play a role in understanding human disease.
Thinking about cleaning up
Dr Kate Millar, Centre for Applied Bioethics, University of Nottingham digests the ethics of bioremediation, the use of micro-organisms or plants to clean up environmental pollution. Focus groups used a formulation of an ethical framework (Ethical Matrix) to encourage dialogue and the majority of participants found it useful in their discussions. The matrix could help researchers assess technologies and engage with stakeholders at an early stage in the research and development process.
The cost of knowledge
Professor John Enderby, vice president of the Royal Society and Dr Mark Scott, manager of science policy at the Royal Society say it’s time to review the market for scientific journals. The market may not be working in the best interests of the scientific community and some universities cannot afford the journals to which their staff have, as a pro bono activity, contributed. Developing countries are particularly disadvantaged by cost of access to scientific research.
Plus regular columnists:
The Jack Harris column
Is there a case for nuclear power? Jack Harris believes so. The use of Russia’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as fuel for America’s civil reactors is an opportunity to make the world a safer place. One that Japan and the EU should also undertake.
SET in Parliament – All together now!
Ian Gibson MP reports on the current undertakings of the newly formed House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology. These include an investigation into the teaching of science in schools and the Research Assessment Exercise in universities. It will also examine the work of the Research Councils and the Royal Society.
British Association for the Advancement of Science (The BA)
SPATalk – Does the UK need more nuclear power?
Adrian Ham, Director of the British Nuclear Industry Forum spars with Mark Johnston, Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace UK over the future of nuclear power in the UK. Ham believes that the only way to effectively meet carbon reductions over the next decade is through the continued use of nuclear energy. Johnston however is concerned about the legacy of nuclear waste burdening future generations and believes that renewable resources have enough potential to more than meet our present energy demands.
Opinion - Clear on cloning
James Yeandel, communications manager at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, brings us up to date on the recent changes in cloning legislation. Government rushed to close a loophole in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 at the end of 2001. The amended law banned reproductive cloning but did not stop therapeutic cloning. In January 2002 the Department of Health appealed against this interpretation and won. This means that all research on cloned embryos is covered, and will be regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Features
Forecasting the nation’s health
Met Office forecasts predict heart attacks as well as cold snaps, explains Sancha Tetlow of the Met Office press office. Working with the Department of Health over the last year the Met Office has found that weather affects the frequency of heart attacks, as well as migraines, moods and mental health. The aim is to tell hospitals whether their emergency admissions are going to be rising or falling and last year the programme forecast the two big differences from the norm – a very quiet Christmas and a very busy March.
Gender and science in the European Union
Professor Teresa Rees, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, updates the continuing struggle of women scientists in the EU. While in many EU member states women are the majority of undergraduates, even in some science subjects, few make it to the upper echelons in scientific careers. Many countries have now instituted positive action measures such as supporting networks of women scientists and encouraging the development of role model and mentoring schemes.
Bringing science to life
Dr. David Leaback, Lecturer in Biochemistry, London University, aims to empower the young and underprivileged by getting them to realise that scientific figures grew up in their neighbourhoods. During National Science Week, schoolchildren will perform a play at Guy’s Hospital about two of its medical students when science was beginning to play a role in understanding human disease.
Thinking about cleaning up
Dr Kate Millar, Centre for Applied Bioethics, University of Nottingham digests the ethics of bioremediation, the use of micro-organisms or plants to clean up environmental pollution. Focus groups used a formulation of an ethical framework (Ethical Matrix) to encourage dialogue and the majority of participants found it useful in their discussions. The matrix could help researchers assess technologies and engage with stakeholders at an early stage in the research and development process.
The cost of knowledge
Professor John Enderby, vice president of the Royal Society and Dr Mark Scott, manager of science policy at the Royal Society say it’s time to review the market for scientific journals. The market may not be working in the best interests of the scientific community and some universities cannot afford the journals to which their staff have, as a pro bono activity, contributed. Developing countries are particularly disadvantaged by cost of access to scientific research.
Plus regular columnists:
The Jack Harris column
Is there a case for nuclear power? Jack Harris believes so. The use of Russia’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as fuel for America’s civil reactors is an opportunity to make the world a safer place. One that Japan and the EU should also undertake.
SET in Parliament – All together now!
Ian Gibson MP reports on the current undertakings of the newly formed House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology. These include an investigation into the teaching of science in schools and the Research Assessment Exercise in universities. It will also examine the work of the Research Councils and the Royal Society.
British Association for the Advancement of Science (The BA)
Nuclear Current Events and Nuclear News RSSScientists watch as peptides control crystal growth with 'switches, throttles and brakes'
By producing some of the highest resolution images of peptides attaching to mineral surfaces, scientists have a deeper understanding how biomolecules manipulate the growth crystals. This research may lead to a new treatment for kidney stones using biomolecules.
Genetic analysis helps dissect molecular basis of cardiovascular disease
Using highly precise measurements of plasma lipoprotein concentrations determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), researchers led by Daniel Chasman at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, and the PROCARDIS consortium in Stockholm, Sweden and Oxford, England performed genetic association analysis across the whole genome among 17,296 women of European ancestry from the Women's Genome Health Study.
Is global warming unstoppable?
In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions - the major cause of global warming - cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day.
Nuclear weapons: Predicting the unthinkable
If a nuclear weapon were detonated in a metropolitan area, how large would the affected area be? Where should first responders first go? According to physicist Fernando Grinstein, we have some initial understanding to address these questions, but fundamental issues remain unresolved.
An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice
Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity.
Proton's party pals may alter its internal structure
A recent experiment at the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has found that a proton's nearest neighbors in the nucleus of the atom may modify the proton's internal structure.
Chromosomes dance and pair up on the nuclear membrane
Meiosis - the pairing and recombination of chromosomes, followed by segregation of half to each egg or sperm cell - is a major crossroads in all organisms reproducing sexually.
Nanotech in Space: Rensselaer Experiment To Weather the Trials of Orbit
Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.
The bizarre lives of bone-eating worms
The females of the recently discovered Osedax marine worms feast on submerged bones via a complex relationship with symbiotic bacteria, and they are turning out to be far more diverse and widespread than scientists expected.
SNM applauds House action to build medical isotopes reactor in the US
SNM applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for its passage of H.R. 3276-the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2009.
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