Derek Lowe: Where Do We Stand With “Liver-on-a-Chip” Technology?. It helps, but we are nowhere near replacing animal toxicology models with in vitro, let alone in silico assays. Now, that’s toxicology. I would have a much lower threshold for throwing out the window all those animal models of disease, particularly when testing any treatment that works wholly or in part via the host immune system. Those quickly turn into Rube Goldberg machines — good for intellectual stimulation, useless for inference.
Brian Potter: Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US? A marvelous exploration of data that doesn’t point to a single cause but does more or less absolve phones while painting a big red “X” onto SUVs and (pedestrians taking) drugs. (ᔥTyler Cowen)
Dan Snow: Secretive vendors are exploiting a free money glitch in the U.S. healthcare system. As much as it makes my blood boil to see this kind of profiteering in health care, ultimately Americans spend so much because they get so much, at least in terms of volume and technology if not outcomes. It may not be evenly distributed or even effective, but you get what you ask for. If anyone wants a different profile of health care spending they should look at some other people.
Boone Ashworth and Kylie Robison for The Wire: I Hate My Friend. I saw these adds on the New York Subway a few weeks ago and wondered who on Earth would be crazy enough to wear an always-on microphone, and who would be delusional enough to think it could be a successful product. (ᔥJohn Naughton)