When there will never be a randomized controlled trial

When There Will Never be a Randomized Controlled Trial

There are many unanswered questions about how to manage secondary hyperparathyroidism and associated alterations in mineral metabolism in patients with end-stage renal disease. We provide commentary on an observational study by Komaba et al. that presents interesting new insights into the long-standing controversy related to the impact of parathyroidectomy on survival of hemodialysis patients.

There Will Never Be Another You.

Will He Be There?

This paper focuses on an unsettling example of experimental labour - the Human Landing Catch (HLC). The HLC is a cheap and reliable technique to produce data on mosquito densities in a defined area. It requires only a human volunteer to sit over night with his legs exposed, a headlamp to spot mosquitoes, and a rubber tube and plastic cup to catch them as they come to feed on him. The HLC formed...

Life Will Never Be the Same

It seems appropriate that the Cold Spring Harbor Genome Sequencing and Biology Meeting, which witnessed the creation of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) in 1988, should this year present three major advances in genomic science: the completion of the ®nished sequence of Drosophila melanogaster; the announcement that 85% of the genome of Homo sapiens is now in draft sequence; and the complete...

Why Computers Will Never Be People

The notion that computers and robots either have a measure of intelligence, or at least will have at some stage, has firmly taken root in Western culture. It has inspired a slew of science fiction novels and films, and one of these, ‘The Matrix’, has attained the status of a modern classic. Moreover, it has powerful advocates in the scientific and philosophical fraternities, the most prominent ...