The Roma people have long held a special fascination for population geneticists who study the frequencies of genetic diseases. The largest minority…
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post Probing the Genomes of the Roma, the Forgotten EuropeansRead more
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post A Glimpse at a Future Heart Disease Drug Thanks to Gene SilencingRead more
I often marvel at the disconnect between media coverage of “breakthrough” treatments and the decades of research that lie behind them. A…
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post How to Make an Allergen-Free Cat, Using CRISPR Gene EditingRead more
I pity the 15 percent of the human population that cannot live with a cat, due to allergy. I’ve seen it happen…
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post What Lies Ahead with COVID? We Simply Don’t KnowRead more
Recently on the local news, New York governor Kathy Hochul confidently proclaimed that we would not experience another COVID surge. Yet just…
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post Lessons from Flu and HIV Inspire Universal Coronavirus VaccineRead more
Masks are coming off and we’re venturing back into the world, thanks largely to vaccines and natural immunity. Still, viral evolution continues…
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post SARS-CoV-2 Pops Up, Mutated, Beyond the Respiratory TractRead more
As if the waves of novel variants of “interest” and “concern” sweeping the planet haven’t been enough, and we find versions of…
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post Rare Disease Day 2022: Juvenile Huntington’s DiseaseRead more
In honor of Rare Disease Day 2022, February 28th, I’m reposting a DNA Science story from nine years ago. February 16th was…
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post Converting Donor Lungs to Universal Blood Type O Could Boost Organ SupplyRead more
Lung transplants can be lifesaving for patients with end-stage lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, and pulmonary hypertension…
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post COVID Complacency: Warnings from Invasion, Station Eleven, and a Research ReportRead more
When Mark Twain wrote “Truth is stranger than fiction,” he wasn’t imagining people watching tales of an alien invasion and a pandemic…
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post Yellow Mealworm Genome Sequence May Ease Farming Insects for FoodRead more
I have a special fondness for the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor. As a child, I fed the mealworm stage of this beetle…
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post Omicron Evolves and the Covidization of Scientific PublishingRead more
Just as we thought Omicron was rolling across the US and into oblivion, a new “subvariant” has arrived and is, again, taking…
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post DNA in Strange Places: Hippo Poop, Zoo Air, and Cave DirtRead more
Many years ago, a dear friend took me to the Detroit zoo to see the Hippoquarium. Much to my delight, the resident…