Flynn Murphy

Science Magazine — Questions are swirling about what role a suite of new and proposed U.S. national security rules may have played in a last-minute choice by five researchers, including Harvard University geneticist George Church, to withdraw from the author list on a peer-reviewed commentary paper published in Nature Methods last week.

The BMJ — Experts are warning of global transport bottlenecks, higher operational costs, and disruptions to raw materials stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Flynn Murphy reports

The BMJ — China’s central government has intervened after hundreds of cases of lead poisoning at a private nursery in the country’s impoverished north west, days after local officials blamed industrial paint used to enhance the appearance of cafeteria food. The rare move comes amid claims that blood test results may have been falsified to downplay the seriousness of the situation, delaying treatment for the sick children. Time is crucial in treating lead poisoning, particularly in children, who are most vulnerable to damage to the brain and nervous system. Some 233 of the 251 children enrolled at Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui’s Maiji county had an abnormal blood lead level (BLL), according to a Tianshui government notice published on 8 July. More children may be affected, however, because China’s benchmark for “normal” is less than100 μg/L, but much lower BLLs can be linked to neurodevelopmental problems. No information was given about staff who also ate at the cafeteria.

The BMJ — Health officials overseeing the city of Wuhan in China have been forced to stop HIV clinics from uploading results to a new digital system for test sharing after two HIV positive patients were refused hospital treatment.

South China Morning Post — Desperate buyers are forking out huge sums for medical supplies from China to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Unscrupulous sellers are feeding off the frenzy.

The Straits Times — The new coronavirus that has claimed nearly 3,000 lives and spread to more than 50 countries was sequenced in Chinese labs - and found to be similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) - weeks before officials publicly identified it as the cause of a mysterious viral pneumonia cluster in Wuhan.

The BMJ — Tobacco companies worldwide have gone to great lengths to keep selling products that they now admit kill people. In China and Japan those efforts typically take the form of shadowy dialogues between government officials.

Nikkei Asian Review — As a bus full of Buddhists approached a temple in the port city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province on Jan. 19, the 68 people on board could not have known that one of them was spreading a frightening new virus. Twenty-four of the passengers would later be diagnosed with COVID-19.

Caixin Global — Fishy Claims of Beijing's Covid-19 Outbreak Chill Upstream Seafood Suppliers - Shockwaves sent through seafood industry, even as experts express doubt over link between virus and salmon found at epicenter market

The BMJ — China is deepening a crackdown on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microplastics with a new environmental law that will come into effect on 15 August.

The BMJ — After investing decades and billions of yuan in becoming a scientific superpower, China is well placed to benefit from the plight of the US medical research sector. But geopolitical ructions and local idiosyncrasies could complicate this, writes Flynn Murphy

The BMJ — China will roll out free vaccine shots for human papillomavirus (HPV) to eligible women and girls nationwide, in the first addition to its national vaccination programme since 2008. HPV shots will be added to the government funded National Immunization Program this year, said the National Health Commission’s deputy director, Shen Hongbing, at a press conference on 11 September. The programme’s expansion was driven partly by budget savings resulting from China’s falling birth rate, local media reported.1 Policy makers also spotlighted the launch of a cheaper, local alternative to the most protective HPV jab on the market, which will help with the costs of the rollout. The news was broadly welcomed in China, although some criticised the country’s sluggish pace at joining more than 100 nations that have added HPV shots to their national schedules in the past two decades.

The BMJ — Shanghai's municipal health authorities have issued a "negative list" of nine types of online behaviour that doctors should avoid, from unlawful advertising to criticising government policy, in what they say is part of a push to promote public health literacy.

The BMJ — China’s health policy makers are seeking to expand access to epidurals, spinal blocks, and other forms of labour analgesia in a country where officials say that seven in 10 vaginal deliveries take place without pain relief. The Chinese National Health Commission has ordered all large hospitals with obstetrics capacity to ensure that they can provide labour analgesia by the end of this year, in a policy published on 5 June.1 Smaller hospitals with 100-500 beds must follow suit by 2027, it said. The pain relief plan calls on local health bureaus and hospital administrators to foster collaboration between obstetricians and anaesthesiologists, to beef up workplace training and public health promotion, and to examine how staff are compensated. But with the procedures still largely uncovered by basic medical insurance, longtime observers say that the plan could falter unless authorities also require that vaginal births with analgesia are reimbursed nationwide.

The BMJ — A new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that seems better adapted to infect people is fuelling a fresh wave of covid-19 sweeping through Asia and the Western Pacific region and is increasingly showing up in the UK.1 The World Health Organization (WHO) has also warned that dwindling rates of testing and sequencing are frustrating experts’ efforts to assess the situation. The new variant, NB.1.8.1, is a descendent of the JN.1 omicron subvariant2 that drove surges in the UK winter of 2023, and it looks set to outcompete the dominant LP.8.1 variant. Health authorities have noted an uptick in covid related hospital admissions in countries such as China and Thailand, where the strain is circulating widely.3 However, it is still considered a low overall risk to public health.4

The BMJ — The supply chains that deliver drugs to patients around the world are surprisingly brittle. Donald Trump's trade war-with both allies and rivals-could break them. Flynn Murphy reports

bmj.com — Doctors in China are urging a rethink of the government's whooping cough immunisation strategy as cases of the highly contagious bacterial infection surge to historic highs.

bmj.com — Chinese health authorities are facing an escalating outbreak of mpox where most cases are of unknown origin. A World Health Organization mpox situation report published on 14 August singled out "sustained community transmission in China" as driving the rise in cases in the region,1 which has bucked a broad global decline.

Nature — Chia-Hsuan Hsu’s conservation efforts combine social science and ecological research.

Australian Financial Review — Beijing | Reigning Chinese Super League champion Jiangsu FC has ceased operations and is poised to collapse after its heavily indebted title sponsor Suning.com pulled back, leaving fans mourning a dark day for China’s sponsor-reliant soccer scene.

Nikkei Asia — China's largest internet companies continue to rely mostly on polluting energy sources to power their cloud computing and data centers, according to a

Nature — Conversations with Chinese immunologists, policymakers and funders — including some who asked not to be named so they could speak more freely — reveal a complex picture of science mixed with international politics. Some are concerned about the cost of rapid progress, and the incentives that have been created for companies and researchers to rush their work.

Caixin Global — Leaving lights and air conditioners on in empty offices, turning on equipment, faking staff rosters and even coaching factory workers to lie to inspectors are just some ways China's flashy back-to-work statistics are being manufactured, a Caixin investigation found.

Nature — Female researchers cite their own work less than men. If citations are the currency of science, women are being short-changed