I haven’t thought or written much about human genetics since COVID hit, instead cranking out articles about the novel coronavirus and the…
-
post Revising a Human Genetics Textbook and Countering Vaccine Hesitancy
-
post The Treatabolome Will Shorten Diagnostic Odysseys for Rare Diseases
The journey of naming an odd collection of symptoms is called, for good reason, the diagnostic odyssey. It can take years for…
-
post How Viral Variants Arise
The public has had a crash course in virology. But sometimes media coverage spews jargon so fast, often without definitions or descriptions…
-
post The H5N8 Bird Flu and Why We Should Pay Attention
Before COVID, reports of a new bird flu trickling or even sweeping out of Asia didn’t garner much attention. That’s certainly changed…
-
post Wishbone Day Raises Awareness of Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Today, May 6th, is Wishbone Day, to raise awareness about osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Also known as “brittle bone disease,” OI is a…
-
post Genomics to the Rescue for Sumatran Rhinos
Sumatran rhinoceroses are solitary creatures that browse the dense rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra, living in small, scattered, shrinking groups. Taking a…
-
post Expand Rapid Testing to Help Counter COVID Variant Spread, Says Harvard Epidemiologist Michael Mina
I just returned from an enlightening trip to CVS, to photograph Abbott Lab’s at-home rapid antigen test for COVID, BinaxNOW. It became…
-
post 3 Possible Origins of COVID: Lab Escapee, Evolution, or Mutator Genes?
“Virus outbreak: research says COVID-19 likely synthetic,” shouted the headline in the Taipei Times on February 23, 2020. The idea that the…
-
post Huntington’s Disease: 2 Steps Backward, 1 Step Forward
Last week’s DNA Science post considered the ebb and flow of treatment possibilities for Alzheimer’s disease. This week, it’s Huntington’s disease. Like…
-
post Alzheimer’s Treatments in the Pipeline and the False Promise of Prevagen: Distinguishing Hope from Hype
The avalanche of TV ads for Prevagen that coincided with my reaching Medicare age has inspired me to investigate what’s coming for…
-
post Science Writing in the Age of COVID-19
It’s been a strange and busy 15 months for science journalists. Each day, throughout the day, our inboxes overflow with the latest…
-
post On the Anniversary of the Pandemic, Considering the Bioweapon Hypothesis
A year ago, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, delivered the message that would divide time: “WHO…