US scientific leaders have launched a new assault on political attempts to undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, supported by 30 other scientific and educational organisations, adopted a declaration denouncing “anti-evolution” legislation that is pending in 14 states.

The bills varied in language and strategy but “all would weaken science education”, said AAAS president Gilbert Omenn, professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. “They threaten not just the teaching of evolution, but students’ understanding of the biological, physical, and geological sciences.”