EurekAlert! News by Subject: Policy & Ethics - News by Subject: Policy & Ethics

Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-Jan-2026 20:11 ET (15-Jan-2026 01:11 GMT/UTC)

Insights from 15 years of collaborative microbiome research with Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Forming sustainable research partnerships with Indigenous peoples requires trust and mutual benefit, say microbiome researchers in an opinion paper publishing October 8 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Microbiology. The paper presents a framework for building this type of relationship based on insights from the team’s 15-year-long collaboration with the Matsés, a group of people who live in the Amazon rainforest on the border of Peru and Brazil. To build trust, the researchers worked in collaboration with the Matsés through all stages of the research project, from developing research methods to disseminating results.

Journal: Trends in Microbiology
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen

Domestic violence impacts nearly two-thirds of Californians

The Reis Group
Reports and Proceedings

A new statewide survey by Blue Shield of California Foundation found that 63% of Californians have been affected by domestic violence, and one-third identify as survivors. Most residents believe violence is preventable and support alternatives to jail, along with state-funded survivor resources like mental health care and financial assistance. The findings also reveal gaps in understanding abuse, with nearly one in four failing to recognize physical or sexual coercion as domestic violence.

Current and recommended diets in the USA have embedded forced labor risk

Tufts University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab and School of Geography have measured the risk of forced labor behind ingredients in recommended U.S. diets. By showing when healthy eating may come at the expense of exploited workers, the findings could inform how governments and institutions buy food at scale.

Journal: Nature Food

Two in three people with chronic pain turn to comfort eating

University of Technology Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

More than two-thirds of people living with chronic pain reach for comfort foods to cope, a new study finds.

Journal: Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings

Biochar from invasive weed shields rice from toxic nanoplastics and heavy metals

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of scientists has found that biochar made from an aggressive invasive plant can protect rice from two modern pollutants that threaten global food security: nanoplastics and cadmium. The study, published in Biochar, reveals how biochar biofilters derived from Mikania micrantha, an invasive vine spreading across Asia, can reduce the combined toxicity of these contaminants by regulating plant metabolism and strengthening rice’s natural defense systems.

Journal: Biochar

Questionable lead reporting for drinking water virtually vanished after Flint water crisis, study reveals

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Public water systems in the U.S. were far less likely to report suspiciously rounded lead levels after the Flint, Michigan water crisis drew national outrage and federal scrutiny, according to new research led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Journal: American Economic Review Insights
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

Study reveals how small farmers in Brazil respond to climate change—and why their current approach risks long-term sustainability

Strategic Management Society

Small farmers in Brazil are facing the harsh realities of climate change head-on, but a new study published in the Strategic Management Journal warns that many of their strategies may be unintentionally deepening their vulnerability.

Led by Dr. Lucrezia Nava, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Business Management at the University of Exeter Business School, and co-authored by Dr. Jorge Chiapetti and Dr. Rui Barbosa da Rocha of Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, and Dr. Maja Tampe of Universitat Ramon Llull, the study explores how smallholder cocoa producers in Southern Bahia respond to climate threats such as severe droughts and economic crises.

Journal: Strategic Management Journal

64
65
66
67
68