Editorials in 2014

Mandatory labeling of GM food in the United States will not only make all food more costly but also bamboozle consumers.

The international community's woeful response to the West African Ebola epidemic has been compounded by the lack of vaccines and therapies on the ground. That is why US government cutbacks to biodefense funding should be reevaluated and five-year funding tranches restored.

Drug delivery research requires an injection of new thinking. Fostering closer ties with cell biologists seeking to unravel membrane trafficking is a good place to start.

Studies from the RNA Sequencing Quality Control (SEQC) initiative exemplify the kind of experimental groundwork needed to expand RNA-seq into a broader array of basic and translational applications.

Investment in basic research is needed to let all regenerative therapies flourish.

Bioscience job creation is now less about the 'knowledge-based' economy than the 'service-based' economy.

The Battelle/BIO report on the US bioeconomy is too inclusive in some places and too exclusive in others.

Industry needs to fully embrace efforts by regulators to release clinical trial data on approved products, despite lingering concerns over the public release of confidential business information. It is simply the right thing to do.

Orphan drug development is already difficult enough. Demanding manufacturers account for the development costs of individual drugs for reimbursement is misguided.

The commencement of human trials of a gene therapy delivering HIV-neutralizing antibodies is a welcome addition to efforts to develop conventional vaccines against this scourge.

CRISPR-Cas is about to transform how we interrogate genetic variants and model disease.

Renewed investor interest in RNA interference (RNAi) is enabling pioneering companies to forge ahead in the clinic. Does this signify a renaissance in RNAi therapy?

In an effort to rein in costs and galvanize its discovery effort, Merck is following the industry vogue for externalizing early-stage R&D. Is it going to cast its net far and wide enough?

Emerging technologies are broadening our understanding of the human immune system, but capitalizing on their application will likely require philosophical and practical changes to the way research is done.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must clarify how it intends to enforce device regulation on direct-to-consumer (DTC) services that offer to interpret genome variation.