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Biology Cancer Clinical trials Evolution Medicine Science

The Human Genome Project: Hype meets reality

I’ve had the immense good fortune to have trained and ultimately become a physician-scientist during a time when the pace of discovery and the paradigm changes in science have occurred just over the course of my career in medicine and science has been staggering. microRNA, the shift from single gene studies to genomics, the development […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

The “triumph” of New Age medicine? The Atlantic strikes again

Note added 6/16/2011: The author of the target–I mean subject–of this piece of insolence has responded in the comments. Note added 6/17/2011: Steve Novella has also commented. He is unusually harsh (for him). What is it with The Atlantic lately? It used to be one of my favorite magazines. In fact, I was a subscriber […]

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Clinical trials Medicine

Stepping back: Lies, damned lies, and…science-based medicine?

Note: Grant writing ruled again this weekend; so I took this post, which first appeared elsewhere, and decided to revise and repost it. It seems appropriate, given what I’ve been discussing lately. Enjoy, and hopefully there’ll be something new tomorrow.. I’ve been complaining a lot about a certain journalist lately, specifically one named David Freedman. […]

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

“Integrative medicine” further evolves into “evidence-based complementary medicine.” Nothing changes

One of these days I’m going to end up getting myself in trouble. The reason, as I’ve only half-joked before, is that, even though I’m not even 50 yet, I’m already feeling like a dinosaur when it comes to “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) or, as it’s called more frequently now, “integrative medicine” (IM). These […]

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Cancer Clinical trials Medicine

Preclinical research has a problem, but that doesn’t mean religion is better

Remember Vox Day? Sure, I bet you do, at least if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog more than a year or two. If you’re a really long-timer, you probably remember him even better. Let’s just put it this way. Vox is a guy who has a much higher opinion of his intellectual […]