http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/italy-s-new-prime-minister-defended-discredited-stem-cell-therapy > Giuseppe Conte speaks at a meeting of the Five Star Movement on 1 March in Rome. > The electoral victory of two populist parties in March had Italian scientists worried that a new era of antiscientific policies might be around the corner—and yesterday’s appointment of Giuseppe Conte as the country’s new prime minister is making some even more nervous. Conte, a civil law professor at the University of Florence in Italy with no previous political experience, helped a family win the right to try a discredited stem cell treatment that caused a major uproar in Italy 5 years ago. There are also questions about his academic credentials.