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This week’s news includes a possible motivation for the autism-vaccine link scandal, a recommendation from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general regarding institutional conflicts of interest, a tragic reminder of the risks of field research in Colombia, good news for agriculture, scientists’ thoughts on open access, an update to Europe’s Scientific Council, and a projector that can make worms wiggle.

Money motivated autism-vaccine fraud?

Delicensed physician Andrew Wakefield may have faked his study on the link between childhood vaccines and autism in order to cash in on the public’s resulting fear of traditional vaccinations, according to an editorial in BMJ. Specifically, Wakefield stood to profit from the development of “safer” vaccines and diagnostic kits, author Brian Deer explains, citing Wakefield’s discussions with medical school managers about potential business deals prior to the study’s completion. (Hat tip to FierceVaccines)

While Wakefield’s original work was retracted by The Lancet last year, yesterday popular online arts and culture magazine Salon retracted a related story about an alleged link between autism and vaccination, citing “continued revelations of the flaws and even fraud tainting the science behind the connection.” The story, penned by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had already received five corrections since its 2005 publication on Salon‘s Web site, and Rolling Stone, which co-published the article the same year, deleted the story from its Web site sometime last year, according to Retraction Watch.

Institutional COI policies needed

Institutions may be getting better about monitoring financial conflicts of interest (COI) among their biomedical researchers, but what about the COI of the institutions themselves? A survey conducted by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general (IG) found that of 156 universities and research centers with National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding that responded, fewer than half had written policies defining “interests.” A similar number defined what constitutes a conflict, and only 18 institutions reported conflicts in 2008. The IG suggested that the NIH should insist on such policies and have institutions report their COI, but the funding agency said it’s not ready to make such requirements, according to ScienceInsider.

Students killed near study site

Two students at the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, were murdered last week near a manatee study site on the country’s Caribbean coast. While it was unclear if the students were conducting research themselves, the tragedy highlights the risk of doing field work in a war-torn country, according to ScienceInsider.

Agriculture can support growing populace

Despite rising fears that the world’s farmers will not be able to feed the 9 billion people expected to inhabit the planet by 2050, a new report by two French agricultural research organizations says they can, thanks to growing agricultural productivity in some surprising locations, according to Nature News. Stay tuned for next month’s feature on the technological advances helping farmers keep pace with global population growth.

Open Access — good for reading, not for publishing

While scientists like to read papers published in open access journals, they are still hesitant to publish their own work there, according to an EU-sponsored survey of 50,000 researchers. An impressive 89 percent said that open access was beneficial to their field, but only 53 percent said they had published an open-access article, according to ScienceInsider.

European Commission updates Scientific Council

Seven new members have been appointed to the European Research Council’s Scientific Council, which defines scientific funding strategies for the European Union. The new representatives, including Faculty Member Timothy Hunt of the London Research Institute, will serve on the council from February of this year through the end of 2013.

Lights make worms wiggle

Using the basic components of the liquid crystal display (LCD) projectors commonly used for TVs and computer screens, researchers are able to control the brains and muscles of genetically engineered Caenorhabditis elegans, according to two studies published yesterday in Nature Methods. Colored lights from the projector activate proteins engineered into the worms, switching neurons and muscles on or off with a high degree of precision, according to Newswise.

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