pandemic
COVID halts global GM crop approvals, hitting poor farmers in developing countries hardest
The demand rising from COVID-19 has ramped up vaccines using various genetic modification technologies, but when it comes to agriculture, ...
It’s not going away: We need a real, non-political debate about the best way to live with COVID or countries will fracture
In 1968, at the height of the last great influenza pandemic, at least a million people worldwide died, including 100,000 ...
Why COVID-19 hits men harder than women
When it comes to surviving critical cases of COVID-19, it appears that men draw the short straw. Initial reports from ...
COVID pandemic exposes Africa’s need for long-term solutions to Lassa fever and other neglected tropical diseases
Spread by food contaminated by the feces or urine of disease-carrying rodents and endemic to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and ...
Viewpoint: While ‘elitist academics’ praise local food ‘industrial farming’ feeds us during a pandemic
With the world COVID-19 pandemic in its sixth month, food activists are back to trumpeting locally grown, and even home ...
How a rare bird and the coronavirus remind us that our safety depends on science—not wishful thinking
There are worse places to spend a COVID-19 lockdown than next to a sanctuary with one of the world’s rarest ...
Herd immunity alone isn’t enough to save us. Why a vaccine is critical
[G]etting to herd immunity without a vaccine isn’t as simple as the idea itself. A number of variables can affect ...
From art to zombies, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic gave us some ‘surprising cultural byproducts’
Elizabeth Outka, author of "Viral Modernism: The Influenza Pandemic and Interwar Literature," argues the 1918 flu pandemic's influence is an ...
Using ‘genomic breadcrumbs’ to track the coronavirus—and predict how to cope with it
Rapid sequencing of viral genomes can help public health officials figure out the origins, spread and nature of quickly moving ...
Viewpoint: We can’t simply test our way out of the coronavirus pandemic
In response to calls for Covid-19 testing of the entire U.S. population, several large universities, and even some employers, have ...
Stanford’s John Ioannidis refines study suggesting coronavirus global lockdown “may be totally irrational,” acknowledging “more uncertainties”
John Ioannidis answers Undark’s questions on his controversial antibody study and participation in partisan media ...
Viewpoint: Norman Borlaug knew technology could fight hunger. In the biotech age, we ignore his wisdom at our peril
Borlaug’s brilliant insights were double-cropping and dwarfing, his incredible focus and hard work are a matter of record, and then ...
What the porn industry can teach us about how to live safely with coronavirus
Since the late 1990s, when an outbreak of HIV infections threatened to shutter the multibillion-dollar industry, the mainstream porn community ...
Unanswered COVID-19 questions multiply: Why some people get really sick and others not? Does social distancing really matter? Are models right?
In a pandemic characterized by extreme uncertainty, one of the few things experts know for sure is the identity of ...
Viewpoint: Here’s what a win against the coronavirus looks like. It’s not pretty
If you’ve been marking the pandemic by the pileup of cautious reopenings and rescheduled events, you might think that an ...
Agriculture is ‘ecocide’? Third-generation farmer takes on environmental objections to modern food production
When times are tough and people are struggling, we tend to look for someone to blame. The op-ed “Link between ...
‘Public Panic Pandemic’: How our reaction to the coronavirus makes things worse than they should be
Deconstructing the epidemiology of a global panic ...
Infographic: 3 strategies for finding coronavirus treatments
The scientific community is working around the clock, not only to protect us from COVID-19, but to prevent future strains ...
Viewpoint: Coronavirus journal—Anatomy of a pandemic
The first case of what we now know to be COVID-19 was diagnosed on November 17, 2019 in Hubei province ...
There are 3 possible endgames for the coronavirus pandemic
Three months ago, no one knew that SARS-CoV-2 existed. Now the virus has spread to almost every country... . It ...
Viewpoint: We’re making big decisions on the coronavirus without solid data
At a time when everyone needs better information, from disease modelers and governments to people quarantined or just social distancing, ...
Viewpoint: Watch out for ‘charlatans and scammers’ touting coronavirus cures
The coronavirus pandemic has the whole world's attention. For now, there's no treatment and definitely no cure for COVID-19, the ...
Video: Here’s how quickly the coronavirus could overwhelm US hospitals
How bad will the coronavirus be for US hospitals? Some experts suggest that 20-60 percent of adults may contract the ...
Travel restrictions to stop the coronavirus? Here’s why they won’t work.
Travel restrictions, though not recommended by the WHO, are a tool that countries use in hopes of stopping the spread of ...
Viewpoint: We’ll learn a lot from the coronavirus outbreak, but it will be ‘paid for in blood’
The coronavirus outbreak, now a pandemic spreading at an exponential rate throughout the world, is upending our routines, certainties and ...
We finally have our first smallpox treatment—just in case
Fear of another smallpox pandemic keep you up at night? You’ll be happy to hear the FDA approved tecovirimat (Tpoxx) on [July 13]. It’s ...
Drug weapons: Computer designed proteins prepare to battle the next pandemic
Researchers are using computer modeling to design new antiviral proteins that could slow down, or stop, global outbreaks of deadly ...