I just used ChatGPT for the first time. Initially, I was concerned about my future as the chatbot near-instantaneously answered my queries…
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post Why I’m Not Worried that ChatGPT Will Replace Me as a Biology Textbook AuthorRead more
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post Watermelon Pangenome Reveals Origins of SweetnessRead more
As autumn looms, we’re enjoying the last bites of sweet, juicy watermelon. Conventional agriculture has molded our fruits and veggies to suit…
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post Maui Fires: How Mitochondrial DNA Will Identify Human RemainsRead more
The Maui firestorm was so vast and fast that most identification of human remains will come from bits of persisting DNA from…
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post The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: A Geneticist’s ReviewRead more
The history of genetics begins, not with Gregor Mendel’s pea experiments, but with people long ago noticing family resemblances and vulnerabilities so…
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post Eclectic Genomics: Cat Flu, Dolphin Adaptation to Climate Change, Predicting Cancer, and Diagnosing Rare DiseaseRead more
Determining the sequence of building blocks of entire genomes – aka genomics – first came to public attention in the 1990s, with…
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post A Squishy Sea Creature Regenerates a Body from a Severed HeadRead more
Humans aren’t very good at regeneration — we can do it for skin, bone, and liver, but that’s about it. Flatworms, zebrafish…
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post Experiments Reveal the Early Human Embryo, with Implications for Infertility and Early Pregnancy LossRead more
Several recent reports are filling in the gaps of what we know about the earliest days and weeks of human prenatal development…
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post How Targeted Cancer Drugs Disrupt the Cell CycleRead more
“If you’re an adult with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer that’s spread and tests positive for PDL1 without an abnormal EGFR…
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post How (and Why) the Octopus Edits its RNARead more
What I love most about science in general, and genetics in particular, is when new findings upend everything we thought we knew…
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post Topical Gene Therapy FDA-Approved for Severe Skin Disease, Dystrophic Epidermolysis BullosaRead more
The newest FDA-approved gene therapy treats the severe, skin-peeling condition dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). The gene treatment has been a long time coming…
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post Experimental Myotonic Dystrophy Treatment Teams Monoclonal Antibody and siRNARead more
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), an inherited disease affecting muscles, was one of the first described “expanding repeat” disorders. In these 50…
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post The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois Celebrates Afro-Indigenous History with Genealogy – No DNA NeededRead more
When a dear friend recommended The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois, I thought the book was a tribute to…