clair031

Summary. Our understanding of the human immune system made tremendous progress all through the 20 th century, continuing even to the present day.   As part of this effort, important advances have been made in vaccine development, saving millions of lives worldwide.   But false reports linking vaccination with autism have led to rejection of vaccination by many parents, who fear incorrectly that vaccination may trigger the later appearance of autism. Science can only proceed by open-ended inquiry, untainted by preconceived biases.   Unscientific proposals that are counter to the results of objective inquiry, such as the harmful movement to shun vaccination, are unproductive.   They harm society at large by diverting attention and wasting resources.   Human progress relies on critical verification of scientific discovery, and on building further on the progress made.   Allison had married relatively late, and was happy to have her infant son and husband as...

Summary. Biological science has made tremendous progress since James Watson and Francis Crick presented their model for the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA.   Their model built on, and provided explanation for, important findings about DNA that were already known.   Since then, important progress has been made, for example, in analyzing the base sequences, i.e., the chemical code, of specific genes and using that information for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Gene sequences that identify mutations in breast cancer genes alert physicians to the possibility that virulent malignancies may develop later in life.   Another genetic aberration, in the HER2 protein, permits targeting it with a therapeutic antibody, a major step forward. Science can only proceed by open-ended inquiry, untainted by preconceived biases.   Unscientific proposals that oppose the results of objective inquiry are unproductive.   They harm society at large by diverting attention...