Featured in Newsletter
Viewpoint: Time to stop thinking of testosterone as a ‘magic male molecule’
Aggression is not correlated with high levels of testosterone ...
What we can learn from Sweden’s controversial—and seemingly effective—coronavirus strategy
Life in lockdown is slowly becoming a rather grim norm for millions of citizens across the globe as the response ...
How the halo effect around plant-based meat leads us to exaggerate its nutritional benefits
Healthy food, unhealthy ingredients? ...
Coronavirus immunity passports could create a world of ‘us and them’. But here’s why they make sense
Dividing groups of people into “us” and “them” isn’t usually a good idea, but in the scary new world of ...
Viewpoint: Why GMOs? Biotechnology yields a drought-tolerant rice that conventional breeding couldn’t produce
“Photosynthesis: a feat of chemical engineering underpinning creation’s entire cathedral.” ― Richard Powers, The Overstory ...
If we want to go to Mars, we’ll need to figure out how to feed our astronauts. Synthetic biology can help.
Revolutionary food production and closed-loop biomanufacturing could transform human space travel and address the growing food crisis on Earth ...
Viewpoint: Expanding organic agriculture could make another pandemic more likely
Modern technology and agricultural intensification are the proven path to a safer future ...
Podcast: Tracing humanity’s roots: uncovering history and genetic diversity in Africa
We explore the genetic diversity in the birthplace of humanity and discover the cultural and historical stories written in the ...
Stanford’s John Ioannidis refines study suggesting coronavirus global lockdown “may be totally irrational,” acknowledging “more uncertainties”
John Ioannidis answers Undark’s questions on his controversial antibody study and participation in partisan media ...
Viewpoint: Norman Borlaug knew technology could fight hunger. In the biotech age, we ignore his wisdom at our peril
Borlaug’s brilliant insights were double-cropping and dwarfing, his incredible focus and hard work are a matter of record, and then ...
Podcast: COVID-19 a global communist plot? Glyphosate didn’t cause the pandemic. Time to embrace agricultural biotechnology.
While public health officials and policymakers struggle to contain the novel SARS-COV-2 coronavirus, anti-vaccine activists claim the pandemic was orchestrated ...
Viewpoint: Darwin’s ‘Descent of Man’ is both deeply disturbing and more relevant than ever
Charles Darwin’s Descent of Man is full of unexpected delights — such as the trio of hard drinking, chain-smoking koalas ...
The tricky path for using stem cells to treat coronavirus-ravaged lungs
The coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a wave of repurposing efforts, from old malaria drugs prescribed off-label to anti-virals stalled in ...
Coffee of the future? Lab-made ‘molecular’ version might feed the world’s caffeine habit while sparing the environment
The coronavirus pandemic has led to many shifts in how we eat, but our collective coffee habit remains strong. As ...
Rescuing Africa’s staple orphan crops—sorghum, millet, cowpea, cassava and sweat potato—with biotechnology could help feed millions of people
The year is 2100 and Africa is home to the world’s largest population of young people, with its current leader ...
Viewpoint: ‘We can’t afford miscommunication or bureaucratic foot-dragging’ in the quest for a coronavirus vaccine
A draft government report forecasts the possibility of about 200,000 new cases of COVID-19 each day by the end of ...
Can the gene editing technology known as CRISPR help reduce biodiversity loss worldwide?
CRISPR “could be such an amazing tool if we are respectful [and] responsible and use it properly.” ...
Podcast: We need a vaccine ‘Manhattan Project’ to defeat COVID-19
The only way to truly end the novel coronavirus pandemic is to develop an effective vaccine. And while there are ...
Book review: Sheldon Krimsky’s ‘GMOs Decoded’ cherry-picks data to spur fear of biotech crops
Judith Heimann reviews “GMOs Decoded: A Skeptic’s View of Genetically Modified Foods,” by Sheldon Krimsky ...
‘Denial, blame, and conspiratorial thinking’: Anti-vaxxers’ dangerous rhetoric during coronavirus pandemic
So far, the responses from major players wear down a familiar path of conspiratorial thinking and government mistrust ...
Podcast: GMOs = witchcraft? ‘Big Ag’ didn’t cause coronavirus; Remdesivir for COVID-19
We finally have a drug to treat COVID-19 in remdesivir, but how well does it work? Anti-GMO activists have blamed ...
Coronavirus vaccines can’t be rushed: We could have one ‘overnight,’ but it has to be proven safe and effective
Scientists across the globe are racing to develop a vaccine that can protect against COVID-19. The global effort has led ...
Quest for coronavirus treatment inspires modern twist on antique technique using survivors’ plasma
There's no shortage of research efforts looking for ways to stop, or at least slow down, the novel coronavirus. Of ...
Viewpoint: COVID-19 food shortages—Why the pandemic is a warning to embrace agricultural technology
The question worth asking is this: will we learn from this trying experience and embrace agricultural technology to build a ...
Viewpoint: Anti-vax group says ‘the elite’ are using COVID-19 to usher in a ‘techno-communist global government’
Children's Health Defense says governments and corporations are using the coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) to advance a "global immunization agenda." The anti-vaccine ...
Podcast: Twisted history—The true story of how the DNA double helix was discovered
There's more to the story of the double helix than Watson and Crick. We unwind history to uncover some of ...
Is the lockdown an overreaction? Uproar over epidemiologist John Ioannidis’ study minimizing coronavirus risks
For his Covid-19 work, the Stanford scientist John Ioannidis is being accused of the same bad science he has criticized ...
