Abstract

A disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths have been reported among Latinxs in the U.S. Among those…

In a study for the British Journal of Political Science, the authors found that Muslim religious leaders weaken their perceived religious authority when they engage with politics.

"In the U.S., Latinos are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A critical step to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is diagnostic testing," write scholar Luz Garcini and co-authors. This research article identifies the barriers and facilitators that must be addressed in order to implement accessible, effective testing.

The authors identify mental health stressors and strategies for coping with distress among underserved Latino communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.

About 1 million Texans gained health care coverage due to the Affordable Care Act, according to new research by health policy fellows Vivian Ho and Elena Marks. The new findings published in the American Journal of Public Health examined the effects of the ACA’s Marketplace on Texas residents and determined which population subgroups benefited the most and the least.

This study affirms that employing strategies to maintain soil organic carbon stock early within a biofuel program supports climate change mitigation. Such strategies can guide farmers to best manage soil carbon within the biofuel production life cycle.

Regenerative medicine and stem cell research are exciting new fields. But as the fields progress toward clinical therapies, controversies emerge. Hype surrounding stem cell research has caused an increase in their use in interventions that are not clinically proven. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have a lot of difficulty dealing with cell therapies, which are distinctly different from drugs and medical devices they more commonly approve. To move the field forward, advocates, regulators and scientists need to come together to find new options for stem cell research oversight that protects both the patients and the research field.

Biotechnology scientists must be aware of the broad patent landscape and push for new patent and licensing guidelines, according to a new paper from the Baker Institute.

Despite the political nature of stem cell research, this area of science continues to flourish in the United States. In 2011, the NIH funded approximately US$1.2 billion in stem cell research — a steady increase from past years — with US$123 million devoted to human embryonic stem cells. According to the ISI Web of Science, more than 4,000 U.S.-authored stem cell publications were produced in 2011, accounting for approximately 38 percent of the world total. Approximately one-quarter of these publications were collaborations with authors from other countries.