Ricki Lewis
Finding echoes of cancer journey in Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
The 'choose your own path' nature of Bandersnatch echoes a journey with breast cancer ...
I’m a geneticist. A DNA test uncovered a half-sister and sparked painful questions
My own discovery is so overwhelming that I can’t talk about it much, even though my new half-sister has possibly ...
Genetics pioneer James Watson stripped of final honorary titles over race views
It's the latest chapter of the dark side of Dr. Watson ...
Selling yourself: There’s a growing market for your DNA data
Citizen scientists are supplying the data stream to drive precision medicine ...
Viewpoint: Putting CRISPR babies in context—learning from the past instead of panicking in the present
The brouhaha against the gene-edited twins echoes recent history of alternative reproductive technologies ...
Hiding in plain sight: Exploring Parkinson’s link to the appendix
Lurking in the layers of the human appendix lie deposits of alpha-synuclein, a protein prone to gumminess, like sticky rice ...
Genes and giraffes: What do those spots tell us?
Giraffes' spotty exterior provides more than camouflage ...
Not-so-mad scientists and why they’re making human body parts
Halloween brings a cornucopia of candy body parts, so it’s a good time to review recent advances in organoid technology ...
Why we may need a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of microbes to protect our health in the future
Preserving human microbiomes today, especially the more diverse ones from traditional peoples in developing nations, may provide treatments for diseases ...
‘Voluntary euthanasia’: Are we ready to harvest organs while donors are still alive?
In the dystopian society of Nobel prizewinner Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, cloned people are raised to provide organs for ...
Gene silencing through RNA interference scores first drug approval
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first drug based on RNA interference (RNAi). Unlike media darlings gene therapy ...
Were there two migration routes into North America? Genetics meets archaeology
Popular accounts of the peopling of North America paint a picture of a lone long-ago trek across the Bering Land ...
DNA testing to reunite separated families—what we learned from the grandmothers of Argentina
The idea to use DNA testing to reunite families separated at US borders due to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” ...
Alternate facts: Why are we still telling women that abortion causes breast cancer?
On June 26th, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of crisis pregnancy centers that were challenging a California law, the Reproductive ...
Battling constipation with synthetic biology and DNA manipulation
Ateam of researchers has cleverly combined synthetic biology, recombinant DNA technology and microbiome manipulation to fashion a novel targeted treatment ...
Viewpoint: Why we aren’t yet on the verge of a preemie prediction test
Earlier this month, I saw an interesting juxtaposition of newly-published papers making headlines. One was about predicting breast cancer recurrence ...
Can the Egyptian fruit bat’s unusual genome show us how to fight deadly Marburg virus?
The Egyptian fruit bat's immune system enables it to peacefully co-exist with Marburg virus, which can cause a swiftly deadly ...
Quick fix: Gene therapy could offer less invasive pet contraception
Might gene therapy provide a one-time, far less invasive way to ensure that cats and dogs do not beget kittens ...
Making sense of crowdfunding for unapproved stem cell treatments
When FDA approval for a technology or treatment lags behind demand, crowdfunding steps in. Desperate patients or their families launch ...
Genetic privacy and the case of the Golden State Killer—diving into the science
Consumer DNA testing companies are rushing to reassure customers about the security of their genetic information following news that DNA ...
Protein therapy in the womb overrides genetic glitch hampering teeth development, ability to sweat
Imagine a fetus gulping in amniotic fluid and drinking a drug that restores the ability to form teeth, sweat glands ...
Tale of two families: Exome sequencing and faster diagnosis of rare disorders
Sailing from New York City to London a century ago took days; today the trip takes hours by air. Similarly, ...
Viewpoint: Rampage movie offers twisted take on CRISPR gene editing
Is a film based on a video game with fleeting mentions of a biotech buzzword compelling sci-fi? No. But I ...
Mood disorders more common in children of first-cousin parents, study finds
Having parents who are first cousins doubles the risk of inheriting a single-gene condition, from 2.5 percent to about 5 ...
Examining the curious genes behind ‘magic mushrooms’
"One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small,” sang Grace Slick in Jefferson Airplane’s classic White Rabbit, conjuring ...
Here’s what we really know about transgender genetics—so far
The week started strangely. On [March 19], the author of a new book on transgender identity emailed me, asking about ...
Fertility clinic meltdown: What happens when slumbering eggs are awakened early
Fragile spindle apparatuses are an integral part to embryonic growth. What happened to embryo structures when they were thawed and ...
Space astronaut twin’s DNA ‘changed’? How some reports botched the story, and what we really know
When the Today Show reported on March 15 that the DNA of Scott Kelly, who spent a year on the ...