Autism-vaccine study was 'fraud' says journal

A 1998 study that linked childhood autism to a vaccine was branded an "elaborate fraud" by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Thursday, but its lead author said he was the victim of a smear campaign by drug manufacturers.- 06/01/2011, Health & Families

More children having MMR vaccine

The number of youngsters having the MMR vaccine is on the rise although it still falls short of a World Health Organisation (WHO) target, figures showed today. Across England, the percentage of children who had at least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab by their second birthday was 88.2% in 2009/10. This is up from 84....- 30/11/2010, Health News

I would have been denied mortgage, says minister

The Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, says he himself would have failed to get a mortgage had new proposals for the mortgage market drawn up by the City watchdog been in effect when he bought his home. - 27/11/2010, Business News

Fondue: It's a cheesy Seventies revival

Messy, monotone and more retro even than the prawn cocktail, fondue is enjoying an unexpected renaissance. Bridal couples beware: this year, that beribboned gift-box is more likely to contain a chafing-dish and six pronged forks with colour-coded handles than at any time since 1979. Some people will use their fondue sets, of which there is once again a wide ...- 20/10/2010, Features

Sandy Starr: Has the peer review process lost credibility?

What do the following stories have in common? Andrew Wakefield's influential 1998 paper suggesting a connection between autism and the MMR vaccine is fully retracted by the journal that originally pub ...- 09/10/2010, Commentators

Brain scan promises to identify the hidden sufferers of autism

Autism could in future be diagnosed in 15 minutes from a brain scan – saving patients and their families years of suffering from a condition that can go unrecognised for decades.- 11/08/2010, Health News

The appliance of real science: Should all children take the IGCSE?

William Hardy is good at science – which is not surprising as his father is a professional biochemist. He also attends a state school in Cambridge which believes it has the highest proportion of scientists living in its catchment area of any British school, owing to the university and comm-ercial spin-offs from the university. Now the parents at the P...- 15/07/2010, Schools

Brain scan promises to identify the hidden sufferers of autism

Autism could in future be diagnosed in 15 minutes from a brain scan – saving patients and their families years of suffering from a condition that can go unrecognised for decades.- 11/07/2010, World Politics

Jeremy Laurance: The biggest puzzle is the rise in cases in the past 30 years

Autism is a condition that exerts a grip on the public imagination like no other. It disturbs something that is core to our being human. In the social world in which we live, the capacity to read situations and respond appropriately is crucial to successful human interaction. People with autism lack this capacity and are confined to a lonely and isolated - 10/06/2010, Commentators

Media Diary: Lembit-watchers had advance warning of Laws's downfall

Poignant and depressing though David Laws' resignation on Saturday night certainly was, at least it was less a shock than it might have been. The pre-emptive warning came on Saturday afternoon when a former colleague waded into the debate with a contribution headlined: "Opik: No question of Laws resigning". Ah well – we Lembit-watchers thought on s- 31/05/2010, Diary

British doctor who linked vaccine to autism struck off register

A British doctor who linked the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine with autism was struck off the medical register Monday after being found guilty of serious professional misconduct.- 27/05/2010, Health & Families

Doctor who linked MMR jab to autism is struck off

One of the most inglorious episodes in recent medical history ended yesterday when the doctor who triggered a global scare about MMR vaccine was struck off the medical register. - 25/05/2010, Health News

Jeremy Laurance: Medicine needs mavericks – but he was just wrong

A week after publishing his Lancet paper in 1998 which triggered the scare over the MMR vaccine, Andrew Wakefield said in an interview with The Independent: "If I am wrong I will be a bad person because I will have raised this spectre. But I have to address the questions my patients put to me. My duty is to investigate their stories."- 25/05/2010, Commentators

MMR row doctor is struck off by GMC

A "dishonest" doctor at the centre of the MMR row will be struck off the medical register, the General Medical Council (GMC) ruled today. Andrew Wakefield was found guilty of serious professional misconduct at a hearing in central London. The 53-year-old, who is currently in New York, is expected to appeal against the decision, whi...- 24/05/2010, Health News

Dr Tom Wakeford: A thrilling breakthrough, but also a frightening one

To be "synthetic" in biology used to be the essential complement to being "analytic". It meant bringing conceptual clarity to the study of an organism or living system that had previously been analysed as separate constituent parts. Now Craig Venter has re-defined synthesis to refer to the invention of new forms of life from their constituent parts.- 21/05/2010, Commentators