Top 6 One
Biotechnology timeline: Humans have manipulated genes since the ‘dawn of civilization’
The history of biotechnology shows how humans have been manipulating nature for our benefit for a long time—and how modern ...
COVID vaccine and mask guidance confusion? Why we should cut the CDC some slack — It’s the norm when dealing with fast-evolving disease crises
There is continuing confusion, and even consternation, over what seem to be disparate policies, recommendations and mandates emerging in response ...
If evolution encourages reproduction, why do people have same-sex preferences?
Same-sex sexual behaviour may seem to present a Darwinian paradox. It provides no obvious reproductive or survival benefit, and yet ...
Israel’s early COVID vaccine rollout went 1100% better than in the United States. What did they do differently?
[As of January 8, we had only] vaccinated 1.38% of our population [in the United States, while Israel had] vaccinated ...
How Freddie Mercury got his voice: It wasn’t his teeth
Was Freddie Mercury's magnificent voice aided by a genetic defect? ...
How snake venom and a smoking cessation drug inspired a nasal spray that blocks COVID
A simple nasal spray that stops SARS-CoV-2 in its tracks? That could block the coronavirus in the nose, before it ...
‘War on glyphosate’ and the unintended negative environmental consequences of the demonization of a safe and effective herbicide and its removal from the garden market
Across social media they celebrated. The electronic victory laps commemorated Bayer’s decision to remove the herbicide Roundup from the residential ...
Gene-edited crops made in Latin America, for Latin American needs
In recent years, precision biotechnologies have appeared on the Latin American horizon, introducing new ways to modify genomes affordably easily ...
Viewpoint: Stanford is a world-class science institution … except when it comes to critical thinking about the ‘sustainability myth’ of organic agriculture
Stanford, which consistently ranks among the top U.S. colleges and universities, is one of the great research institutions in the ...
It affects 50 million Americans, and for now it’s incurable. Here’s what we know about the ear ringing disorder tinnitus — and its possible links to COVID-19 and vaccines
This past March, the CEO and founder of the Texas Roadhouse steakhouse chain, Kent Taylor, committed suicide. According to family ...
Is Prevagen the ‘silver bullet’ supplement to treat Alzheimer’s disease? Distinguishing hope from hype in the battle against cognitive decline
The avalanche of TV ads for Prevagen that coincided with my reaching Medicare age has inspired me to investigate what’s ...
What our embattled world looks like through the ‘eyes’ of SARS-CoV-2
I’m tired of writing about COVID from a geneticist’s point of view, so I thought I’d let a virus speak ...
By 2030, nearly half of Americans will be classified as obese: From gene manipulation to lifestyle changes, here are rays of hope
Now that COVID-19 is winding down, perhaps it’s time to go back to trying to do something about our country’s ...
Maybe both sides are right: If SARS-CoV-2 was leaked from a Wuhan lab, it doesn’t mean the virus was necessarily engineered
The “lab leak” hypothesis about the origin of Covid-19 has been getting a lot of attention lately, and deservedly so ...
Viewpoint: It’s time to end the innovation-blocking, organic lobby-promoted, biotechnology-regulating Cartagena Protocol
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) is an international agreement developed by governments and environmental organizations opposed to the commercialization ...
Viewpoint: Organic lobbyists show ‘sheer hypocrisy’ opposing UK emergency authorization of neonicotinoid sugar beet seed treatments — while supporting environmental waiver for ‘acutely toxic’ copper sulfate
The Government was right to make provision for a temporary and limited derogation for the use of the neonicotinoid seed ...
Incurable Huntington’s disease? microRNA offers hope in the wake of failed clinical trials
A recent DNA Science post considered the ebb and flow of treatment possibilities for Alzheimer’s disease. This week, it’s Huntington’s disease. Like ...
Viewpoint: Epidemiology in crisis? Scientists and health journalists need to embrace ‘skeptical science.’ Here’s a checklist for detecting over-hyped scares
Since the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, epidemiology has assumed an outsized role in the public consciousness. It has been ...
Regenerative agriculture: The movement dedicated to unseating intensive, ‘industrial farming’ by claiming it has comprehensive sustainability advantages
For the last century, each generation has produced an alternative approach to farming that is aimed at a central challenge ...
Viewpoint: ‘Dump Dimorphism’ — Challenging orthodoxy, neuroscientists claim 30 years of studies show ‘no meaningful male-female brain differences’
Everyone knows the difference between male and female brains. One is chatty and a little nervous, but never forgets and takes ...
The Green Revolution was built on manipulating genes to breed higher-yielding, disease resistant crops. Here’s an ode to one of its pioneers, Sanjaya Rajaram
Few people are aware of the heroes behind the surge in yields of wheat and other crops that began in ...
Sierra Club endorsement of disease-resistant chestnut tree divides the anti-GMO movement
Across the eastern seaboard, the majestic American Chestnut tree once dominated forests. A main source of timber for cabins, shipbuilding, and ...
Rural, Republican America deeply skeptical about the reality of COVID and the importance of vaccines. Here’s why
At 70, Linda Findley has long been active in her small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, which sits more than ...
Viewpoint: ‘War against the West’: Russia powers global vaccine rejectionist movement even as it inoculates its own citizens
Anyone active on social media is aware that there is a great deal of passionate but ill-founded opposition to vaccination, ...
The mRNA vaccines battling COVID-19 are revolutionizing virus fighting strategies. Here’s how
British economist Thomas Babington Macaulay challenged a thread of pessimism writing in 1830: “On what principle is it that, when ...
Viewpoint: Here’s what ‘whole grain’ really means—and it’s not the health claim you’ve been told it is
Consumers have been so saturated with vague marketing claims that nearly 50 percent can't correctly identify what is claimed to ...
About bats and COVID: Why the Wuhan ‘lab leak’ theory shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand, and other reflections one year into the crisis
Winston Churchill famously observed that in wartime the truth must be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies. Many of my ...
