Carl Zimmer
Articles written for the GLP list the source as Genetic Literacy Project. All other articles were written for the sources noted with excerpts provided by the GLP.
Bizarre deep sea microbe could help explain origins of ‘animals, plants, fungi and humans’
Two billion years ago, simple cells gave rise to far more complex cells. Biologists have struggled for decades to learn ...
Scientists reconstruct yet-to-be-found skull of humans’ last common ancestor entirely through computer imaging
[R]esearchers like Dr. [Aurélien] Mounier are using computers and mathematical techniques to reconstruct the appearance of fossils they have yet ...
Podcast: Why did we survive, when the Denisovans and Neanderthals did not?
The Denisovans have long been one of the most elusive ancient human cousins, until now. In May 2019, scientists revealed ...
7 things we get wrong about heredity
Many people have misconceptions about heredity—how we are connected to our ancestors and how our inheritance from them shapes us ...
Crime scene investigators couldn’t tell identical twins’ DNA apart. Until now
One night in November 1999, a 26-year-old woman was raped in a parking lot in Grand Rapids, Mich. Police officers ...
Genetically modified humans? Here’s why they already exist
It felt as if humanity had crossed an important line: In China, a scientist named He Jiankui announced on Monday ...
‘Living medicine’: Reengineering bacteria to tackle genetic diseases
In a study carried out over the summer, a group of volunteers drank a white, peppermint-ish concoction laced with billions ...
Can you inherit a laugh? Book explores this and other genetics questions
Why are people today often taller than their ancestors? If you have blue eyes or red hair, does that mean your children will ...
Viewpoint: Genetic intelligence tests are ‘worse than just wrong’
On a recent visit to [genetic data website] DNA.Land, I scanned down the list of traits they offered to tell ...
Why can your DNA vary from cell to cell? Mosaicism is a ‘hidden mix of mutations’
James Priest couldn’t make sense of it. He was examining the DNA of a desperately ill baby, searching for a ...
‘Natural traveler’? Humans may not be responsible for sweet potato’s migration from South America to Pacific
Of all the plants that humanity has turned into crops, none is more puzzling than the sweet potato. Indigenous people ...
Unexplained ailments? Genetic mutations may be responsible
Gregor Mendel discovered fundamental rules of genetics by raising pea plants. He realized that hidden factors — we now know ...
Designer proteins could help us fight flu, remove gluten from foods
[Researchers have] been stumped by one great mystery: how the building blocks in a protein take their final shape. David ...
Are ‘gene drive’ trials too risky for field studies?
In 2013, scientists discovered a new way to precisely edit genes — technology called Crispr... One of the more intriguing ...
NY Times’ Carl Zimmer: CRISPR gene editing vital but offers ethical challenges
[Editor's Note: Carl Zimmer is a columnist at the New York Times, where his column "Matter" appears each week. He ...
10 more years: Men with this common gene mutation may live longer, grow taller
A common genetic mutation is linked to an increase in life span of about 10 years among men...The mutation, described ...
‘Genome graph’ offers way for scientists to map human gene pool
[I]t’s becoming painfully clear that the original method that scientists used to compare genomes to each other...is rapidly becoming obsolete ...
Human ancestors may have moved out of Africa in one single migration
Modern humans evolved somewhere in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago. But how did our species go on to populate the ...
Large genetic database reveals how our individual DNA differs
ExAC...is a compendium of genetic information that...[is] so big that it is giving scientists a much more realistic vision of ...
Video: DNA looks much different than what you might think
Biology textbooks like to depict DNA looking like an abstract spiral staircase, representing the classic double helix shape. However, real ...
Patients under hypnosis exhibit distinct patterns of brain activity
Psychiatrists have been using hypnosis on patients for decades — to help them reduce their pain or kick a smoking ...
Have media, scientists overstated what in biology epigenetics can explain?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Epigenetic marks are undoubtedly ...
CRISPR can edit RNA, scientists report
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Just a few years ...
DNA unveils history of African American migration
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. The history of African-Americans ...
Geneticist uncovers history with human DNA
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. As a boy growing ...
What can a year in space do to your genes?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. "I was a dorky ...
‘Tree of Life’ diagrams known evolutionary history of all life
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. A team of scientists ...
Meat eating may have driven evolution of tool use
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Scientists recently turned Harvard’s ...
