10 key facts about Golden Rice, a GMO that can save the lives and sight of millions of children

10 key facts about Golden Rice, a GMO that can save the lives and sight of millions of children

Daniel Norero |
"This rice could save a million kids a year," read a famous Time magazine cover from July 2000. The report ...
On average, women live 5 years longer than men. It’s mostly genetics

On average, women live 5 years longer than men. It’s mostly genetics

Tara Santora |
Around the world, women live longer, on average. So why do women tend to outlive men?  Two of the main ...
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Taboo: Why has Africa emerged as the global coronavirus ‘Cold Spot’ — and why are we afraid to talk about it?

Jon Entine, Patrick Whittle |
The first COVID-19 case in Africa was confirmed on February 14th, 2020, in Egypt. The first in sub-Saharan Africa appeared ...
Biotechnology is key to meeting UN’s goal of zero hunger worldwide by 2030

Biotechnology is key to meeting UN’s goal of zero hunger worldwide by 2030

Joseph Gakpo |
Agricultural biotechnology is a crucial tool for transforming global food systems to meet the United Nation’s goal of ensuring zero ...
On the cusp of flu season, concerns mount that Delta variant poses unique dangers for children

On the cusp of flu season, concerns mount that Delta variant poses unique dangers for children

Erika Edwards |
The number of very sick children admitted to Children's Hospital New Orleans with Covid-19 has exploded over the past two ...
‘Inflammation clock’: There is now a tool to measure your biological age

‘Inflammation clock’: There is now a tool to measure your biological age

Max Kozlov |
A new type of age ‘clock’ can assess chronic inflammation to predict whether someone is at risk of developing age-related ...
Why the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to surprise us

Why the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to surprise us

Ricki Lewis |
As people in the US grapple with a return to masking to stay ahead of the delta and lambda variants ...
When might the Delta variant reach its peak?

When might the Delta variant reach its peak?

Sarah Zhang |
We will soon get the first glimmers of data that show how Delta behaves when all restrictions are lifted in ...
Science is revolutionizing how elite female athletes train. What we’ve learned could benefit all women

Science is revolutionizing how elite female athletes train. What we’ve learned could benefit all women

Maggie Mertens |
When Dr. Kate Ackerman was in medical school 20 years ago, she'd heard of the term "female athlete triad." Coined ...
Skin cancer and screening: The good and the bad of ‘overdiagnosis’

Skin cancer and screening: The good and the bad of ‘overdiagnosis’

Teresa Carr |
About a decade ago, when he was a first-year dermatology resident, Adewole Adamson learned that “exploding” rates of melanoma were ...
Obesity genes? Scientists isolating mutations that promote weight gain, spurring hopes gene editing could dramatically curtail the disease

Obesity genes? Scientists isolating mutations that promote weight gain, spurring hopes gene editing could dramatically curtail the disease

Sophie Holman-Jones |
Over the last twenty years, genetics have been increasingly implicated in the incidence of obesity. The MC4R gene in particular ...
Metabolically tweaked CBD shows signs of curbing severe pain and chronic neuropathy associated with cancer treatments

Metabolically tweaked CBD shows signs of curbing severe pain and chronic neuropathy associated with cancer treatments

Aparna Nathan |
[When professor of pharmacology Sara Jane] Ward tested CBD’s pain-relieving power in mice, she noticed it wasn’t absorbed well by ...
Hulu’s Rosemary's Baby redux ‘False Positive’ bungles the science and stretches credulity

Hulu’s Rosemary’s Baby redux ‘False Positive’ bungles the science and stretches credulity

Ricki Lewis |
I looked forward to Hulu’s original horror film False Positive, pitched as a modern-day Rosemary’s Baby. It premiered at the Tribeca ...
What makes one embryo ‘better’ than another? Why selecting children through polygenic scoring might not work as intended

What makes one embryo ‘better’ than another? Why selecting children through polygenic scoring might not work as intended

Dennis Thompson |
[S]ome companies have already started to offer couples going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) the means to pick better embryos ...
Pseudoscience takes hold with athletes at the Olympics

Pseudoscience takes hold with athletes at the Olympics

Steven Novella |
In London in 2012 I noticed the almost ubiquitous multi-colored tape snaking in unusual patterns along the bodies of athletes ...
Is science really about evidence? How convention trumps new findings on obesity and health

Is science really about evidence? How convention trumps new findings on obesity and health

Amy Crawford |
In 2005, Katherine Flegal, a senior scientist studying obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published a counterintuitive ...
Like almost everything with COVID, the scientific debate over the virus’s origins has become politically toxic

Like almost everything with COVID, the scientific debate over the virus’s origins has become politically toxic

Victoria Gill |
Scientists often disagree with each other - that is part of the scientific process... But the "lab leak v natural spillover" ...
What age did you have sex for the first time? What age did you have kids? Genetics plays a surprisingly influential role

What age did you have sex for the first time? What age did you have kids? Genetics plays a surprisingly influential role

An Oxford-led team, working with Cambridge and international scholars, has discovered hundreds of genetic markers driving two of life's most ...
Mark Twain’s misguided obsession with alternative medicine

Mark Twain’s misguided obsession with alternative medicine

Harriet Hall |
[Mark] Twain was raised with alternative medicine. His mother, Jane Clemens, dabbled in everything from homeopathy to spiritualism to patent ...
As parents debate whether to have their children vaccinated, specter of juvenile long COVID looms

As parents debate whether to have their children vaccinated, specter of juvenile long COVID looms

Dyani Lewis |
Most people who survive COVID-19 recover completely. But for some, the poorly understood condition that’s become known as long COVID ...
Greenpeace denounces Philippines’ approval of nutrition-enhanced GMO Golden Rice

Greenpeace denounces Philippines’ approval of nutrition-enhanced GMO Golden Rice

Jasper Arcalas |
Greenpeace Philippines called on Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar to reverse the Bureau of Plant Industry’s (BPI) decision to approve ...
GMO breakthrough: Philippines becomes first country to approve nutrition-enhanced Golden Rice for commercial sale; Bangladesh next

GMO breakthrough: Philippines becomes first country to approve nutrition-enhanced Golden Rice for commercial sale; Bangladesh next

The Philippines became the world's first country [July 23]  to approve the commercial production of genetically modified "golden rice" that ...
Epstein-Barr virus link? Tantalizing clues suggest EBV potentially triggers COVID long-haul symptoms

Epstein-Barr virus link? Tantalizing clues suggest EBV potentially triggers COVID long-haul symptoms

Josh Bloom |
COVID-19 has already broken all the rules. Since when does a virus make people lose their sense of taste and ...
Extreme heat and evolution: We adapted to handle a vast range of temperatures but current conditions are pushing limits

Extreme heat and evolution: We adapted to handle a vast range of temperatures but current conditions are pushing limits

William Calvin |
Heat waves are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, not the more photogenic windstorms and floods. Hotter ...
Vaccinated people with no COVID symptoms may be key spreaders of the Delta variant

Vaccinated people with no COVID symptoms may be key spreaders of the Delta variant

Hilary Brueck |
Strangers are standing shoulder to shoulder in bars, fans are singing at packed indoor concerts, and travelers are flying in ...
Dogs and cats can contract and transmit COVID

Dogs and cats can contract and transmit COVID

Jim Reed |
Covid is common in pet cats and dogs whose owners have the disease, research suggests. Swabs were taken from 310 ...
Some stress-related factors in aging appear reversible

Some stress-related factors in aging appear reversible

A new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons is the first to offer quantitative ...