On January 22, the World Health Organization declared anti-vaxxers a “Top Threat to Global Health in 2019.” The agency specified “ vaccine hesitancy”…
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post Measles and an Outbreak of Science IlliteracyRead more
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post Baboon Genomes Offer Clues to the Past and Future of HumanityRead more
“Once upon a time, in a cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, different types of ancient peoples were having sex,”…
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post 300th Post at DNA Science TodayRead more
This is my 300th blog post for DNA Science. I’m so grateful to Public Library of Science for enabling me to comment so…
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post A New Memoir about Donor Conception Confronts Genetic DeterminismRead more
In her just-released memoir “Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love,” Dani Shapiro tells of discovering that she was donor-conceived. The subtext of…
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post New Recipe for Fecal Transplants to Treat Ulcerative Colitis: Multiple Donors and Ditch the OxygenRead more
The secret to a fecal transplant that treats ulcerative colitis might be a change in the recipe and preparation: pool stool from…
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post Museum Genomes Explain the Plight of the Grauer’s GorillaRead more
When a population rapidly plummets, the chance sampling of genetic drift and inevitable inbreeding can accelerate the pace of extinction. A new…
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post How Bandersnatch Mirrors a Cancer JourneyRead more
A few minutes into watching the compelling new Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, in which the viewer chooses the story path, I realized that…
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post Organoids: Beyond the Breakthrough of the YearRead more
Science magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year for 2018 is “Development cell by cell: Scientists are tracking embryo development in stunning detail.” The announcement rightly…
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post A Proposed DNA Data Protection Act? The Cat’s Out of the BagRead more
A team of biologists, policy analysts, and legal experts from the University of Queensland call for a new Genetic Data Protection Act…
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post Can Certain Medical Treatments “Seed” Alzheimer’s Disease?Read more
A re-opened case from the history of medicine suggests that “seeds” of a protein that aggregates in the brains of people with…
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post Genome of Galapagos Gentle Giant Lonesome George Leaves Clues to LongevityRead more
I have a special fondness for tortoises. Many years ago I bought a baby Sulcata tortoise at a reptile show. Unbeknownst to me…
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post A Common Ancestry Metric Is Based On a Century-Old Discovery by a 19-Year-Old: CentiMorgans ExplainedRead more
I’ve been immersed in genetic genealogy, following up on a recent contact from a relative I didn’t know existed. While trying to…