conversation
Omicron: What we know so far — and what lies ahead
Since early in the COVID pandemic, the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa has been monitoring changes in SARS-CoV-2. This ...
EU’s Farm to Fork Green Deal could hurt South African agriculture unless production adjustments are made
The European Union – among a host of other countries – is seeking to implement urgent policy measures to combat ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR gene edited crops ‘mimic nature’ — but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be regulated
Legislators around the world are being asked to reconsider how to regulate the latest developments in gene technology, genome editing ...
CRISPR, fluorescent proteins, optogenetics: Three life-enhancing technologies inspired by nature
Watson and Crick, Schrödinger and Einstein all made theoretical breakthroughs that have changed the world’s understanding of science. Today big, game-changing ideas are less ...
Going back to your office for work may increase your productivity — and your weight. Here’s why
With millions of Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, many who have worked from home over the past year will be heading ...
COVID-19 variants pose new threats but our antibodies are evolving to fight them
The emergence of “variants of concern” has raised questions about our long-term immunity to the coronavirus. Will the antibodies we make ...
Viewpoint: ‘Deep structural flaws’ plague Nigeria’s food system: ‘Gene-editing and the use of genetically modified organisms need to be mobilized’
During the lockdown in Lagos, Nigeria, I joined a humanitarian team to distribute food to poor people in the urban ...
Genetics and a second Green Revolution: Gene editing essential to address increasing crop losses as warming temperatures cause a surge in insect populations
For millennia, insects and the plants they feed on have been engaged in a co-evolutionary battle: to eat or not ...
Video: Death by COVID: The projected grim toll in historical context
The latest statistics, as of July 10, show COVID-19-related deaths in U.S. are just under 1,000 per day nationally, which is ...
Here’s how dogs really see the world
Dogs definitely see the world differently than people do, but it’s a myth that their view is just black, white ...
Why facts don’t work against vaccine deniers and other science skeptics
Bemoaning uneven individual and state compliance with public health recommendations, top U.S. COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci recently blamed the country’s ...
How to keep virtual reality from taking over real life
American R&B star John Legend is doing a major live show on Thursday June 25 to promote his new album, ...
Asymptomatic COVID-19 infections can still cause lung damage
Modern medicine rightly emphasises the importance of science. The focus, however, too often displaces our attention from the real point ...
How supercomputing is taking on the COVID-19 pandemic
In “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, the haughty supercomputer Deep Thought is asked whether he can ...
Dead or alive? The cosmology of viruses
Viruses are an inescapable part of life, especially in a global viral pandemic. Yet ask a roomful of scientists if ...
Feeling a bit stir crazy during the pandemic lockdown? Blame it on human evolution
Humans are intensely social creatures. We all need company and social contact. But for many of us, being at home ...
From bioterror to bioerror: Who’s afraid of biohacking?
In March, amateur scientists in Sydney announced they had created a COVID-19 test kit that is simpler, faster, and cheaper ...
Coronavirus romance: Is it healthy for isolating couples to have so much together time?
In the wake of COVID-19 social distancing and stay-at-home orders, young couples may find themselves spending more time with each ...
How old is that child? ‘Epigenetic clocks’ could help fight child labor, trafficking and improve age records on immigrant children
Epigenetic clocks are a new type of biological test currently capturing the attention of the scientific community, private companies and ...
Glioblastoma and John McCain: Why this brain cancer remains an ‘insidious enemy’
Sen. John McCain withstood beatings and torture as a prisoner of war, but he was confronted with an enemy in ...
‘Biofortification’: Super-nutritious crops could help millions of undernourished children
An incredible 155 million children around the world are chronically undernourished, despite dramatic improvements in recent decades. In view of this, the ...
Viewpoint: Bans on neonicotinoid insecticides may not actually help bees
Public pressure is growing in Australia to ban the sale of pesticides called neonicotinoids because of their harmful effects on bees. The ...
Mars conundrum: How do we explore without contaminating the Red Planet?
Space exploration experts worry over what will happen if a human expedition introduces Earth's microbes to Mars. Are those concerns ...
Born to exercise? ‘Fitness’ genes may help lower breast cancer risk
A growing number of studies show that exercise offers protection against breast cancer. Research on mice suggests that some of ...
Is ‘dark DNA’ lurking as ‘missing’ mystery force in animal evolution?
In some animals, stretches of essential DNA seem to be missing. However, this "dark DNA" is not really missing, it's ...
Left and right share anti-science instincts, rooted in fears of ideological misuse
Anti-science views have been increasingly embraced by political factions, left and right. Both harbor deep suspicions of government, industry and ...
Crippling costs blunt potential of drugs harvested from living cells
Biologics are drugs grown in living cells, rather than produced through chemical reactions. They can be incredibly effective, but are ...
