Amy Maxmen
Articles written specifically for the GLP or the articles that are reposted from other sources (sometimes in modified form) with permission list the source as Genetic Literacy Project. Excerpted articles list the original media outlet as the source. Excerpts are posted under guidelines for Fair Use and Creative Commons for educational nonprofits (501c3). The GLP’s Fair Use policy for posting excerpts and using images is explained here.

Searching for coronavirus ‘antidote’ in the blood of former patients
Hospitals in New York City are gearing up to use the blood of people who have recovered from COVID-19 as ...

World’s favorite banana faces extinction. Are GMOs, CRISPR the final hope?
The race to engineer the next-generation banana is on. The Colombian government confirmed [in August] that a banana-killing fungus has ...

‘Paradigm shifting’: Monthly injections could replace daily pills for HIV patients
Long-acting medicines have proved as effective as daily pills in preventing HIV from replicating, according to results from twin trials ...

Lassa epidemic: Nigeria uses CRISPR to get early jump on viral outbreaks
An epidemic of Lassa fever in Nigeria that has killed 69 people this year is on track to be the ...

Disease-resistant cassava could help safeguard against starvation in developing countries
[Ismail] Rabbi, a geneticist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria, and his colleagues are on ...

‘Deep learning’ sheds light on natural selection in human DNA
Each person’s genome contains three billion building blocks called nucleotides, and researchers must compile data from thousands of people to ...

Rarely studied African genes fill in ‘blank canvas’ of early human history
Humankind’s early history in Africa is coming into sharper focus with a new study of 180 genomes from a dozen ...

Marijuana-derived epilepsy drug might pave the way for GMO cannabis research
Legal hurdles to exploring marijuana’s medicinal properties might soon fall in the wake of the US Food and Drug Administration’s ...

Solving a riddle: ‘Dark matter’ DNA shown to influence brain development
A puzzle posed by segments of 'dark matter' in genomes — long, winding strands of DNA with no obvious functions ...

Deep learning: Google wants to use retinal photos to predict blood pressure, age, smoking status
Eyes are said to be the window to the soul—but researchers at Google see them as indicators of a person’s ...

Could the Arctic Apple be the beginning of a new wave of consumer-oriented GMO foods?
This month, bags of sliced apples will hit grocery-store shelves in the midwestern United States for the first time. Shoppers ...

Defensive measures: Early vertebrates employed gene-regulating proteins to battle viruses
Viruses and their hosts have been at war for more than a billion years...Although the earliest antiviral systems have long ...

Breakthrough for bone marrow transplant recipients: Lab-grown blood stem cells produced for first time
After 20 years of trying, scientists have transformed mature cells into primordial blood cells that regenerate themselves and the components ...

Gene-edited animals face uncertain future under proposed FDA regulations
Editor's note: The comment period for these regulations -- as well as those proposed by the USDA -- opened on Jan ...
Could GMO cassva prevent ‘konzo’ disease caused by cyanide in staple crop?
[K]onzo [is] a neurotoxic disease that people succumb to when they have nothing to eat except for the white roots ...
Many environmentalists dismiss best way to reduce pesticide use– GMOs
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. But what really catalyzed [Walter ...

How has CRISPR transformed discussion on gene editing?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Spiny grass and scraggly ...

Cripr-Cas9 DNA editing opens world of possibilities—and Pandora’s box
Crispr-Cas9 makes it easy, cheap, and fast to move genes around—any genes, in any living thing, from bacteria to people ...
What has CRISPR accomplished in three years, and what are the dangers we’ll have to face?
Preeminent genetic researchers like David Baltimore, then at MIT, went to the Asilomar conference in 1975 to grapple with the ...
Ethiopian enset: Can native plants be improved for economic viability?
Ethiopians have cultivated enset—a cousin of the banana tree—for thousands of years, converting its stalk, roots and leaves into food, ...
Uncovering human history in Ethiopia, world’s oldest graveyard
Charles Darwin knew humans evolved from apes, but he died before the strongest fossils that prove our connection with primates ...

Smithsonian’s genetics exhibit inspires mixed review
Smithsonian's new exhibit explains how the human genome relates to health, medicine and ethics, but not really how it works ...
GMOs may feed the world using fewer pesticides
Walter De Jong shouts over the roar of fans in the greenhouse. He’s telling me about the seedlings beside him, ...

Are politics holding back animal engineers?
When she saw the trailer for the documentary Genetic Roulette, Alison Van Eenennaam wanted to laugh, then cry. The film ...
The great gene-patent debate contines: Does it help or hinder research?
An ongoing legal battle over gene patents has led many scientists to ask whether such claims help or hinder research ...