LAUSR

The 'ordinary' science of checking other people's work is essential to research. P urists will tell you that science is about what scientists don't know, which is true but not much of a basis on which to develop new cancer drugs. Hence the importance of knowledge: how crucial this mutation or that cell-surface receptor really is to cancer growth. These are the findings that launch companies and clinical trials — provided, of course, that they have been published in research papers in peer-reviewed journals. As we report in a News story this week (see page 269), a systematic effort to check some of these findings by repeating an initial five published cancer studies has reported that none could be completely reproduced. The significance of this divergence — how the specific A presidential commission on a link between vaccines and autism would legitimize a dangerous and thoroughly debunked argument. Scientists must retaliate with the truth at once. harm. The United States has already experienced a series of outbreaks of preventable diseases. In 2014, measles affected 667 people in the country, primarily those who were unvaccinated. The outbreaks are expensive, too: in 2011, it cost public-health institutions up to US$5.3 million to cope with 16 measles outbreaks that made 107 people ill. If Trump moves ahead with his vaccine commission, he will give a sense of legitimacy to opponents of childhood vaccination. This could undercut efforts in some states, such as Texas and Michigan, to strengthen vaccination requirements for schoolchildren. In the wake of the news about the commission , the American Medical Association moved to reassert the safety of vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics said that it would welcome the chance to discuss vaccine safety with Trump. Scientists, medics and commentators who have fought vaccine disinformation in the past must take a deep breath and return to the fray. There is no need to wait for this commission to be announced officially. There is no need to wait until it issues its findings. There is no cause to be surprised if it shows little regard for science — or even if it targets scientists who speak out in favour of vaccination. Those who claim a link between vaccines and autism can do so only by discrediting the scientific evidence and, often, the scientists who gathered it. Kennedy's reference to investigating vaccine safety " and scientific integrity " provides ample warning …