Objectives: To examine (1) the quality of media reports (newspapers, television and public radio) of genetic discoveries with medical relevance and (2) factors related to the completeness and balance of the stories.
Methods: Analysis of the accuracy, balance, and completeness of 228 media stories reporting 24 genetic discoveries between 1996 and 2000 using a previously validated instrument.
Results: Although usually accurate, the stories contained only 45.5 +/- 13.8% (mean +/- SD) of relevant items. Stories appearing on television and stories reporting discoveries of genes for rare diseases were the least complete. Stories in non-US English-speaking newspapers included more content items per word than US stories. Less balanced stories exaggerated the benefits of discoveries, ignored possible risks, and did not present a range of expert opinion. Scientists were sometimes the source of exaggeration.
Conclusions: To increase the quality of media reports about genetic discoveries, stories should include more relevant items and be written by journalists skilled in science writing. Scientists will have to resist the tendency to exaggerate. These conclusions may apply to media stories of other discoveries as well.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000086756 | DOI Listing |
Health Policy Plan
January 2025
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK.
Substandard and falsified (SF) medical products are a serious health and economic concern that disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries and marginalized groups. Public education campaigns are demand-side interventions that may reduce risk of SF exposure, but the effectiveness of such campaigns, and their likelihood of benefitting everybody, is unclear. Nationwide pilot risk communication campaigns, involving multiple media, were deployed in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda in 2020-2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReprod Biol Endocrinol
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
Background: Preimplantation embryos in vivo are exposed to various growth factors in the female reproductive tract that are absent in in vitro embryo culture media. Cell-free fat extract exerts antioxidant, anti-ageing, and ovarian function-promoting effects. However, its effects on embryo quality are yet to be investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hazard Mater
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Agro-product Quality and Safety, Institute of Quality Standards & Testing Technology for Agro-products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address:
Trisiloxane ethoxylates (TSEOn) have been found in multiple agro-environmental media due to their pervasive application in agricultural production. While some studies suggested that the differences in the toxicological effects of TSEOn were closely related to their end-capping groups, the environmental behaviors and fate of TSEOn congeners with varying end-capping groups in agroecosystems remain underexplored. This study investigated the dissipation patterns of 39 oligomers across three TSEOn congeners in cucumber, leaves, and soils through field trials, including TSEOn-H (hydroxy, n = 2-14), TSEOn-CH (methoxy, n = 2-14), and TSEOn-COCH (acetoxy, n = 3-15).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Food Microbiol
January 2025
Unit of Food Hygiene and Technology, Centre for Food Science and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
The increasing popularity of sous-vide (SV) cooking necessitates research into the microbiological quality, sensory changes, and shelf life of SV products. Studies show that SV cooking significantly reduces the levels of meat microbiota and pathogens, positively affecting the shelf life and safety of SV products. However, the meat spoilage organism Clostridium estertheticum can survive SV cooking as it can produce heat-tolerant spores.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegen Ther
June 2024
Center for Regenerative Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Introduction: Repairing damaged cartilage poses significant challenges, particularly in cases of congenital cartilage defects such as microtia or congenital tracheal stenosis, or as a consequence of traumatic injury, as the regenerative potential of cartilage is inherently limited. Stem cell therapy and tissue engineering offer promising approaches to overcome these limitations in cartilage healing. However, the challenge lies in the size of cartilage-containing organs, which necessitates a large quantity of cells to fill the damaged areas.
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