A very brief comment on a complicated topic... New Scientist has a story in the current issue about epigenetics -- differences in gene expression that are not due to changes in the gene sequences…

In today's issue of Science there is a piece by Elizabeth Pennisi on the "Altenberg 16" who will be attending what overhyping journalist Suzan Mazur calls the "Woodstock of Evolutionary Biology",…

In case anyone is new to the blog, here are some ways that you can explore content. Browse the content on the new blog The best of Genomicron (links to posts on the old page) Search Genomicron (…

I have previously been pleased to announce on Genomicron the release of the first two issues of Volume 1 of Evolution: Education and Outreach. I am equally pleased to point out that Issue 3 is now…

Some time ago, I lamented a precipitous drop in subscriptions to the Genomicron RSS feed from a high of more than 500 (RSS woes). My preferred explanation is that a number of people had subscribed…

Love him or hate him, if PZ Myers (Pharyngula) at Seed Media's Scienceblogs.com property were not doing what he does, one of us would have to - so we are inclined to love him. The Catholic League…

Continuing my science policy blogging streak (we'll get back to real science here soon, I promise!), it's worth noting Washington Post columnist George Will's recent piece about our "perverse…

Over the last few years, we've seen some bitter political arguments over the role of US Government scientists, political appointees, and the manipulation of technical reports. I'm not going to wade…

Over at the Panda's Thumb, Nick Matzke weighs in on how scientists should respond to Creationist criticisms that we know nothing about abiogenesis - the origins of the first living systems from non-…

In reading an interesting article in the New York Times (in part because it quotes my colleague Andrew MacDougall), I came upon this statement that caused a bit of a cough. “There’s no such thing…

I've been traveling, often with three whining kids in the back seat of a cramped car - not the best environment for blogging. On part of this trip, we toured this not so well known, but spectacular…

On a science blog I read a question asking about light passing thru a vacuum and how this was possible. If light, as the subject cannot be defined as a particle and therefore cannot be "charged or…

I was reading an artical in Network World (a publication based on software and new hardware for networking with computers)when an article by Denise Dubie caught my attention. Corporations have been…

You may not have noticed but the sound of a jelly wobbling was recorded for the first time ever in a sound-proof chamber at University College London (UCL) recently. Yes, they recorded the sound of…

At The Panda's Thumb, Nick Matzke has a post about abiogenesis (the origin of life from non-life) and evolution. He, PZ, and others argue that abiogenesis is part of evolutionary biology and that it…

If you get a minute (and if anyone reads my blog - I know, I know, people are here to read the good stuff, not me) say hello to Audrey Amara, our most recent staff science journalist - with articles…

Sometimes, when I think a little extra motivation is required, I (jokingly) threaten my students that I may switch to working on leeches. I explain to them that the way my colleague Mark Siddall and…

Let's be honest; Nature and AAAS, non-profit or not, have employees and those employees would like to remain so. That requires money and a lot of it. Non-profit has never meant 'free', it just means…

Depending on the animals in question, the amount of DNA per cell may be associated with body size, metabolic rate, developmental rate, or other traits. With an old fashioned cytogenetic staining…

So, over at Rationally Speaking, Massimo Pigliucci asks "Is there fundamental scientific disagreement about evolutionary theory?".  This is a reply to creationists who are making a big deal of…