Health
Too much knowledge? Should you sequence your baby’s genome?
Is there such a thing as having too much information about the health of your newborn? With the cost of ...
Fighting Zika: DNA vaccines may offer new weapon against virus
[In August 2016], scientists injected a [DNA] vaccine for Zika virus into a human being...Unlike some traditional methods, DNA vaccines ...
Buying organic food to avoid pesticides? You may want to reconsider
Do you seek out organic fruits and vegetables to avoid those on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list, fearful ...
Nigerian agriculture minister: Country has not officially embraced GMO crops but ‘we are watching’
Nigeria has not adopted Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or genetic technology in agriculture and food production. Chief Audu Ogbeh, the ...
Potential melanoma treatment uses protein that repairs damaged DNA
Scientists have discovered that the immune environment inside melanomas with mutations in the protein ATR...is altered in ways that promote ...
Mike Adams, Alex Jones and Joe Mercola: How the web turns quacks into science gurus
Welcome to the vast universe of self-built social media empires devoted to spreading false, misleading, and polarizing science and health ...
UK could become gene-editing leader in farming post-Brexit
Scientists at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, said [February 2017] that they had edited the genomes of pigs, rendering them ...
Oral cancer vaccine, with an assist from CRISPR, shows promise in treatment
Certain cancers seem to have a predilection for Asians...[A]ccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), oral cancer is responsible for ...
Sickle cell cure? Patient in complete remission following gene therapy
A number of recent headlines imply a recent case study just published...proves that gene therapy has cured sickle cell disease—a ...
Early warning: Alzheimer’s risk could be identified sooner through ‘jumping genes’
Duke University scientists have identified a mechanism in the molecular machinery of the cell that could help explain how neurons ...
Insect-resistant GMO cowpeas could be available to Ghanaian farmers in 2018
Ongoing field tests on genetically modified cowpea (Bt cowpea) have produced successful results and will be ready for commercialisation and ...
Psychotherapy revival: Can “talk” therapy change our brains and genes?
"Talk therapy" has fallen out of fashion as being more art than science. But new research suggests that psychotherapy may ...
‘Product versus process’ focus of GE crop regulation debate stalls biotech progress
[Editor's note: Jennifer Kuzma is a professor and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University.] ...
Is transgender identity linked to genetics?
Sex is set, or “determined,” when an X chromosome from an egg finds itself in a nucleus with an X ...
Is genetic testing devolving into ‘hucksterism’?
[Editor's note: David Shaymitz is the chief medical officer of DNAnexus, a genetic data management company.] The ready availability of ...
GM crop successes in South Africa offer hope for continent wrestling with climate change
[Editor's note: Wandile Sihlobo is an agricultural economist and head of agribusiness research at the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) in ...
Organic 2.0: Biodynamic farming gains popularity in the US, but could it feed everyone?
National retailers like Whole Foods are stocking more biodynamic brands – but critics are questioning biodynamic farming’s ability to feed ...
Wrong message? Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen ‘pesticide-soaked’ fruits, vegetables to avoid may make us less healthy
Regardless of whether you’re a parent, an environmentalist, or just a plain old shopper, chances are you’ve gazed out over the supermarket ...
Ignorance and the brain: Why people are so quick to believe falsehoods
How can so many people believe things that are demonstrably false? The question has taken on new urgency as the ...
Video: Fruit, vegetable shelf life extended by spray made from plant extracts
[Editor's note: Watch the video here.] “We use food to preserve food,” [Apeel Sciences CEO James] Rogers said. They start ...
Fact or fiction? 80% of all rare diseases are genetic
The frequently given answer to the question ‘What proportion of rare diseases is genetic?’ is ‘80%’. But where does this ...
Pakistan nears 5-year deal with Monsanto for GMO cotton, despite opposition
The Punjab [provincial] government [in Pakistan] is finalising a deal with Monsanto — a leading producer of genetically modified (GM) seed — to ...
Not so fast: Nature’s defenses may dampen effectiveness of gene drives targeting entire species
Rest easy, folks. Armies of genetically modified super-species are unlikely to conquer Earth anytime soon. In a paper recently appearing ...
European farmers caught in middle of political battles over pesticide bans, biotech mergers
[Editor's note: Robert de Graeff is senior policy officer for the European Landowners’ Organization.] It is fair to say that pesticides ...
Nestlé bucks trend, won’t add GMO labels despite activist pressure
The organic faction is back at it with its bullying tactics. This time, they're going after Nestlé. In a February ...
Quest for a cure: Gene therapy offers hope for children with rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
A couple strives to help their daughter, who was born with a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a muscle-wasting disease that ...
Cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia could be corrected in embryos with new CRISPR variant
Since the discovery of the genome-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9, scientists have been looking to utilize the technology to make a significant ...