Science Literacy Project Daily Digest
DNA analysis used to decipher fossilized Neanderthal remains okayed for genetic analysis of alleged serial murderer
A judge in New York rejected a request on 23 September to disqualify the use of cutting-edge DNA sequencing as ...
Turning last night’s leftovers into fuel for airplanes of the future
One person’s trash is another person’s… jet fuel? Strange as it might sound, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign ...
Swine-origin flu remains a deadly threat. Here is a gene-edited way to protect pigs – and us
In a breakthrough for animal health and biosecurity, scientists at the Roslin Institute have successfully developed pigs resistant to classical ...
China escalates its push to replace U.S. and Europe in modernizing African farming
The 2025 General Assembly of the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance (CAASTIA) kicked off ... in Addis Ababa, ...
The resurrection of the dire wolf is phony, but Colossal Biosciences’ de-extinction research could revolutionize drug development and healthcare
Similar to the way NASA’s effort to launch humans into space once triggered a frenzy of technological advances in areas ...
Generative AI is shaping the future of plant gene editing
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the fight against viral infections in crops through precision CRISPR genome editing, strengthening global food ...
Preserved poop offers a window into the health and life of ancient humans
Feces is an open window into the many other organisms living in our bodies—from beneficial bacteria to harmful parasites. The genetic material ...
Viewpoint: Tort lawyer RFK, Jr. — Trump alliance trashing Tylenol opens the door to a flood of dubious lawsuits
A lawsuit Texas filed ... against the makers of Tylenol foreshadows a wave of legal warfare enabled by the Trump ...
Power gambit: Some women embrace bald look as a new symbol of power and beauty
Sensuous, self-assured and glamorous are not the adjectives typically assigned to women with shorn hair. For centuries, many cultures have viewed long ...
Weeds have long been the bane of farmers. Will the future be different?
[The] International Herbicide Resistant Weed Database reports that there are 534 unique cases of herbicide-resistant weeds globally, with 273 species. In all, ...
Pakistan weighs embracing GMOs and gene editing to spark an agricultural revolution
Today, more than 240 million Pakistanis rely on a farming model that is outdated, inefficient and increasingly vulnerable to extreme ...
AI is already revolutionizing food and farming
Through satellite imagery, AI can highlight where irrigation systems are drying up, spot greenhouses that weren't there a decade ago, or flag fields ...
Black goats that endure hot days? Chinese scientists developed them using gene editing
Chinese researchers have produced the world's first gene-edited black goat designed to tolerate high temperatures and humidity, a breakthrough that ...
Republican Texas Supreme Court unanimously rules judges can refuse to perform same sex marriages
Texas judges who decline to perform a wedding ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief” do not violate the ...
Ways precision genetics is revolutionizing agriculture
Agricultural engineering—often referred to as agri engineering—continues to be a catalyst for sustainable farming, productivity improvements, and precision practices worldwide. As global populations rise and climate change challenges intensify, the need for ...
‘Not sufficient evidence’: RFK, Jr. now rejects his claim that Tylenol is linked to autism, one day after Texas claimed it in a lawsuit
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said October 29 that he does not have “sufficient” evidence to link Tylenol to ...
How much sleep do we really need?
[Sleep] is more than a luxury or idle downtime, it’s a vital biological process that supports nearly every system in ...
Resurrecting Neanderthals: The scientific challenge and ethical debate
When scientists sequenced the Neanderthal genome in 2010, they learned that Neanderthals interbred with human ancestors before mysteriously going extinct. This genetic breakthrough yielded ...
Viewpoint: The biggest winners of RFK, Jr.’s junk science push
Two advisers to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat on a stage in California this ...
The social roots of sustainable eating
The term sustainability usually elicits ideas of a green planet, solar panels, electric vehicles, and plastic-free oceans. However, this outlook—sustainability primarily focused ...
Our global food system is increasingly under strain. What needs to be done?
Much has been written about the inherent complexity of global food systems. They shape outcomes for individuals, organizations, communities and ...
How will climate change affect the flowers of the future?
We might notice the time of year they bloom and connect that to our changing climate. Perhaps we are familiar ...
‘‘It could determine the future of the world’: Putin morphs from ethical opponent of gene editing humans to support for creating CRISPR-edited soldiers “without fear, without compassion, without regret or even pain.” It could happen soon
While known experiments with Crispr—to improve crops, modify malaria-carrying mosquitoes, treat cancer—are constantly expanding, no government has approved wielding the tool to ...
Collecting DNA from hundreds of thousands of detainees, Trump administration immensely expands immigration enforcement
The Trump administration is moving to collect DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people booked into federal immigration custody ...
Viewpoint: While overall cancer rates remain steady, it’s rising in Midwest farm country. Are pesticides to blame?
Cancer rates among young adults in the Corn Belt, a patchwork of golden fields and straight-line highways stretching across the ...
How AI can improve food safety and nutrition
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming food safety and nutrition practices by offering scalable, real-time, and personalized solutions. In food safety, ...
Is AI the solution to combating soaring cases of scientific publishing fraud?
Today, ‘around one in 50 papers’ have patterns that suggest that they are from paper mills, says Adam Day, chief ...
