An eloquent, funny, and heartbreaking new memoir tells the story of Charise Pfeffer, who died in 2024 at age 43 from Huntington’s…
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post New Memoir Chronicles the Heartbreak of Huntington’s DiseaseRead more
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post Cats as a Model for Alzheimer’s DiseaseRead more
Larry and I have had 17 or so felines as members of our household. Babycat was the only one to be diagnosed…
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post A Genetic Basis for StutteringRead more
A new study that identifies genetic links to stuttering may go a long way towards dampening the associated stigma. On March 9…
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post Taming Stem Cell Treatment for Fanconi AnemiaRead more
Fanconi anemia is the most common inherited bone marrow failure. The condition depletes all types of blood cells: the red cells that…
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post A Pop Quiz in Biology for RFK JrRead more
The only requirement for assuming the position of US Secretary for Health and Human Services is being picked by the President and…
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post Probing Poop for Pathogen DNA: Diarrhea Genomics, a First-World Advance Contrasts with USAID Cuts in AfricaRead more
When I saw a news release describing a test in development to sequence pathogen genomes in diarrhea, my geneticist side was, at…
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post Something in the Air – Environmental DNA UpdateRead more
DNA is the calling card of life. In and on our bodies, traces of DNA sequences other than our own announce the…
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post Owning A Dog May Protect Against EczemaRead more
About 100 million adults and 100 million children worldwide have the red, flaky, itchy skin of the most common form of eczema…
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post A Trio of Novels Based on Rare Genetic Disease: Middlesex, The Covenant of Water, and The SirensRead more
I love when fiction unfurls a compelling tale whose protagonist has an ultrarare genetic disease. My most recent favorite is The Sirens…
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post CRISPR Gene Editing Outpaces Gene Therapy: The Groundbreaking Case of KJ MuldoonRead more
Nine-month-old KJ Muldoon made global headlines following a report in The New England Journal of Medicine, from Kiran Musunuru and Becca Ahrens-Nicklas…
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post How Flowers Came to Smell like Rotted Flesh: Another Genetic Just-So StoryRead more
Not all flowers emit odors that are enticing to humans. Three types of flowering plants – Asarum simile, Eurya japonica, and Symplocarpus…
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post The Absurdity of Governments Defining Biological SexRead more
It’s odd for me, as a long-time author of college biology textbooks, to witness governments rule on the nature of biological sex…