Corporate special interests have a long history of trying to distort science in order to distance themselves from the harms they cause and avoid being held accountable. The usual story is that corporations leverage their money through think tanks like the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, which then produce studies that -- surprise! -- add a veneer of scientific credibility to industry talking points. The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting evidence of a more direct link between industry money and distorted science: Even after tobacco companies had pledged to become more responsible about the public health effects of cigarettes, industry executives were attempting to undermine a landmark 1996 scientific study showing a direct genetic link between smoking and lung cancer, a new report concludes. The report by UCSF researchers found that tobacco companies funded research designed to cast doubt on the study -- and then used their ties with the editor of a peer-reviewed scientific journal to have the articles published, without disclosing the authors' or editor's connections to the tobacco industry. Both studies were published in the journal Mutagenesis, owned by Oxford University Press. Its then-editor in chief, James Parry, received tobacco industry funding from 1986 until at least 2001, including 600 British pounds in 1993 for consulting work from British American Tobacco, the UCSF report says. -- Alex Barnum, "How Big Tobacco Reneged on Pledge," S.F. Chron., Jan. 14, 2005