National Geographic
Government approval next step in GM revival of American chestnut
Until recently, the best strategy for saving the American chestnut has involved creating hybrids with the smaller and less impressive—but ...
White House tackles antibiotic resistance at first ever summit
Representatives of more than 150 health care organizations, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies federal health agencies and food-production interests met at ...
Drop in antibiotic profitability partially responsible for rise of resistance
Within the slow-brewing crisis of antibiotic resistance—which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention kills 23,000 Americans each ...
Using genetic solutions to make stronger bee
In 2007 reports of “colony collapse disorder”—swift, terrible deaths of entire colonies—suddenly mushroomed across Europe and the Americas. News reports ...
How genetic forensics will help protect Kenyan wildlife from poaching
In Kenya, poaching of wildlife for bush meat, trophies such as rhino horns and elephant tusks, skins of animals, feathers ...
You leave traces of your microbiome everywhere you go
When you touch a surface, you leave behind fingerprints—distinctive swirling patterns of oils that reveal your identity. You might also ...
Humans and dolphins: Same big brains, separate evolutionary paths
Until our upstart genus surpassed them, dolphins were probably the largest brained, and presumably the most intelligent, creatures on the ...
Antibiotic use in livestock may pose health threat to farm workers
A new study by the researcher who has done the most to pin down the presence of “pig MRSA” in the United States ...
One baboon gene could vastly improve lives of millions of African farmers
With one gene, molecular geneticist Steve Kemp may someday be able to boost the success of small farms across a huge swath of ...
If human head transplants become a thing, what are the ethical questions we’ll need to ask?
In case you haven’t heard, a doctor in Italy has announced plans to transplant a guy’s head onto a new ...
Pamela Ronald profile: Organic farming and GMOs can be ‘bedfellows’
Pamela Ronald is a plant pathologist and geneticist—a professor at the University of California, Davis whose lab has isolated genes from ...
5 questions answered on glyphosate
The world’s most widely-used herbicide has been getting a lot of attention lately. Last month, an international agency declared glyphosate, ...
Why we should stop talking about gene editing in terms of dystopian sci fi
Recently, I went on the NPR show “On Point” to talk about using CRISPR to edit embryos. Towards the end of ...
Chinese scientists ‘edit’ DNA in human embryo
Chinese researchers reported that they edited the genes of human embryos using a new technique called CRISPR. While these embryos will ...
How human-like apes spurred theory of evolution
In 1838, orangutans were still frighteningly unfamiliar to Europeans. In fact, all the great apes were a mystery because they lived thousands ...
What explains the dog-human love affair?
Wolves are wild, powerful, and fearsome predators, capable of bringing down even large prey. And yet, tens of thousands of ...
How ancient mammal spurred war between paleontologists
I’m not sure why I’m so taken with Uintatherium and its relatives. Maybe it’s because poorly-made models of the beast ...
Six decades ago, US celebrated first successful polio vaccine
Sixty years ago, at about the time you’re reading this, church bells began to ring across the United States. Cars honked ...
One decade old, Genographic Project’s probe into human history boasts numerous successes
Ten years ago, a group of international scientists and indigenous community members gathered at National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C ...
Moms’ breastmilk helps establish healthy microbe community in babies’ gut
Breast milk seems like a simple nutritious cocktail for feeding babies, but it is so much more than that. It ...
Can ancient Anglo-Saxon remedy cure MRSA infection?
A plant-based ointment recipe pulled from a 1,000-year-old manuscript is spiking excitement about what historical knowledge and traditional remedies can do to ...
Bizarre new insect-like fossil found in Canada
Following hot on the heels – or is that fins? – of the filter-feeder Aegirocassis– Yawunik kootenayi is the latest ancient ...
Microbiome of rural populations distinctly different, more ‘diverse’ than in Western populations
The study of the human microbiome—the motley assortment of microbes that live in our bodies—has largely been the study of ...
Elephants’ superpowered trunks may help sniff out explosives
The pachyderm is among a group of tame African elephants helping the U.S. military develop an artificial "nose" that could ...
Do we love chocolate enough to turn to GMOs?
GMOs may be able to save chocolate. The bigger question is whether we want them to. Chocolate–the scrumptious confection of Valentine boxes ...
Ancient wheat DNA found in Britain provides clues to history of agriculture
Some of us spend so much time thinking about not eating wheat, particularly its key protein, gluten, that it can be difficult ...
Modern European languages traced to waves of migrating ancient Russian herders
New DNA evidence suggests that herders from the grasslands of today's Russia and Ukraine carried the roots of modern European ...
Natural aptitude for math emerges early in life
Scientists have found that we may actually be born with a deep instinct for numbers. And a new study suggests ...
