Amy Maxmen
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 ...
