Voices for Reason is a blog that covers a wide range of topics, including philosophy and its application to current events, programs of the Ayn Rand Institute and the ideas of Objectivism. Looking back on the year, here are 2016’s most-read blog posts (along with edited versions of the introductions that accompanied them at time of publication).
AquAdvantage Salmon, the first genetically engineered fish intended for human consumption, were finally approved for sale this week by the FDA. These farm salmon have a tremendous advantage over conventional farm salmon — they mature in about half the time.
If you’re in the New York City area, join me this Tuesday, March 31, for a panel discussion on the future of the FDA. I will be arguing that the FDA is a threat to our health and should be abolished. I will be joined by the Manhattan Institute’s Yevgeniy Feyman, who will argue that the FDA should be reformed but retained.
A new study by Nicole Craig and Mark Craig, professors of economics at Lafayette University, estimates that the cost of federal regulations is $2 trillion. That amounts to billions of hours in compliance.
A USA Today editorial this week calls for the FDA to be stripped of its power to decree whether dying patients can take experimental drugs that could save their lives. Patients and doctors, the editors write, should be allowed to make this decision without needing the government's permission.
When Americans hit the beach this summer, an essential item almost everyone will bring with them is sunscreen to protect their skin from overexposure to the sun. But did you know that the sunscreen in your beach bag is not protecting you as strongly as it could be?
I went to the hospital with his family and learned how to give insulin injections and understand blood sugar measurements. One thing I didn’t learn at the time is the amazing biotechnology story behind the tiny bottles of life-saving insulin that showed up in his refrigerator.
Who owns your cells? The FDA seems to think it does, given its lawsuit against Regenerative Sciences, a company that treats orthopedic injuries by extracting, culturing and reinjecting adult stem cells derived from a patient’s bone marrow.
