News Release

The Lancet Infectious Diseases / The Lancet Oncology

Issue February 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Lancet_DELETED

THE LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPENNESS IN AN INSECURE WORLD

This month's Leading Edge editorial discusses the conflict between the quest for scientific openness against a backdrop of global security concerns over the threat of biological terrorism.

A recent meeting in Washington D.C. brought together two unlikely groups-the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the National Academy of Sciences. 'It was clear from the meeting that the life science and security communities are divided over many issues', comments the editorial. The general mood was a feeling of anxiety and uncertainty among the scientists and publishers, as the security community warned that the old ways of doing business have to change.

The editorial concludes: "But all these national restrictions and potential attempts to censor information are overlooking one thing. Biological research is an international, and collaborative, enterprise, and so is publication. Manuscripts come from all over the world and peer review relies on a body of international scientists. Trying to regulate science in one part of the world while allowing it to go unregulated elsewhere will not prevent the spread of knowledge and dangerous materials. No government will really ever be able to control the flow of scientific information. There are 5000 or more journals in the world, and the internet is available to anyone who wants to use it.

'Efforts should surely be directed towards defensive biological research. The only way to defeat those who will use scientific information to harm us is to keep one step ahead. We can make the world safer by mobilising outstanding people in academia and industry and giving them the necessary resources and incentives to create new antimicrobials and warning systems. The battle has many fronts; suppression of information weakens the one front that is our very strength.'

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINES IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES?

Pneumococcal vaccines are increasingly used in developed countries among high-risk groups (young infants and elderly people) to prevent infections that can cause pneumonia and middle-ear infection. However, a review in this month's issue suggests that these vaccines are not guaranteed to be effective due to the many strains of Streptococcus pneumonae bacteria; the authors also comment that it is not realistic to generalise findings which have suggested high vaccine effectiveness--from mine-workers in South Africa, for example--to western populations."

OTHER REVIEWS:

  • Adenovirus: an increasingly important pathogen in paediatric bone marrow transplant patients

  • Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis

  • The contribution of health-care services to a sound and sustainable malaria-control policy

  • Child vaccination policies in Europe: a report from the Summits of Independent European Vaccination Experts

    THE LANCET ONCOLOGY

    CONFUSION OVER CLONING

    This month's Leading Edge editorial discusses the widespread confusion and legal minefield surrounding human cloning. The editorial supports countries with legislation to outlaw reproductive cloning-but contrast this with the need for laws in individual countries to support therapeutic cloning. It comments: 'Therapeutic cloning, however, is entirely different ethically and essential for medical progress. This type of cloning can provide material for replacement tissues and organs, facilitate successful organ transplantation, enhance immunological surveillance, or correct genetic defects via the introduction of functional genes. All of these applications have potential clinical utility in the treatment of cancer and other major diseases.'

    The editorial concludes: 'The myriad of nationally administered laws and unclear legislation are patently insufficient to prevent human reproductive cloning and, taken together, potentially endanger clinical research. A worldwide commitment to legal harmonisation, uninfluenced by propaganda or public pressure, is urgently needed to resolve the current situation.'

    REVIEWS:

  • Molecular mechanisms of resistance to imatinib in Philadelphia-chromosome-positive leukaemias

  • Advances in the treatment of hairy-cell leukaemia

  • Splenic marginal-zone lymphoma: a distinct clinical and pathological entity

  • Epidemiology of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and other haemolymphopoietic neoplasms in people with AIDS

  • A model for decision making for the use of radiotherapy in lung cancer

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    Please mention THE LANCET as the source of this material
    Issued by Richard Lane, Press & PR Officer, The Lancet
    T) 44-207-424-4949;
    F) 44-207-424-4911;
    E) pressoffice@lancet.com


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