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Science Friday > Archives > 2003 > October
> October 3, 2003:
Hour One: Financial Conflicts of Interest in Science /
Rainforest Conservation
This week the editors of an influential group of scientific journals tightened their policy requiring scientists to disclose ties to products or companies that could benefit from the articles they write. Many scientists have ties to industry, and some worry that the public's trust is at stake when scientists don't fully disclose all conflicts of interest such as stock holdings, patents, and corporate financing. The policy comes in response to criticism of an article that appeared in Nature Neuroscience last November in which the author praised three treatments for depression to which he had significant financial ties. Now the editors of Nature and its sister publications are requesting that all such information be out in the open. Will the new policy affect how science gets done?
Plus, a realistic way for saving the rainforests. Forget the teary-eyed idealism, some researchers say; try building a drug discovery program and rainforest conservation will follow. This week a five-year study in Panama indicates rainforests can be protected if the pharmaceutical industry establishes Third World laboratories and hires local researchers to look for new medicines. Many have suspected that new drugs can be extracted from tropical plants that have evolved defenses against insects, but can we conserve the disappearing rainforests at the same time?
Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3
Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).
Guests:
Charles Jennings
Executive Editor
Nature Research Journals
New York, New York
Mildred Cho Senior
Research Scholar and Associate Director
Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California
Phyllis Coley
Professor of Biology
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Tom Kursar
Associate Professor of Biology
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
MEDLINE: The quality of drug studies published in symposium proceedings
The New York Times: Science Journals Tighten Rules for Disclosure of Financial Ties
The New York Times: Scientists Urge Journal Policy On Disclosures
Nature Journals: Competing Financial Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest: Letter to the journal Science: PDF
The Salt Lake Tribune: Researchers hope to save lives along with rain forest
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
University of Utah News: A Realistic Way to Save Rainforests
The World Conservation Union
This segment produced by Karin Vergoth
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