Genetics & Molecular Biology

Immune System Slows Degenerative Eye Disease Retinitis Pigmentosa In Mice

A new exploratory study in mice found that the complement system, part of the innate immune system, plays a protective role to slow retinal degeneration in retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease. Retinitis pigmentosa is an incurable and unpreventab ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 17 2019 - 10:35am

GROs- Genetically Rescued Organisms- Will Save Plant Species At Risk

In today's Wall Street Journal my article Science Saves an Old Chestnut discusses the potential benefit of President Trump's executive order requiring USDA, FDA, and EPA to modernize when it comes to biotechnology approval. They have to consider ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jun 20 2019 - 7:53am

If Science Reduces The Biennial Effect In Coffee, Developing Nations Win

More than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide, which means coffee beans used in all those lattes, espressos and mochas create a livelihood for millions of people worldwide. Yet coffee plant production remains decidedly low-tech, and gimmick la ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 26 2019 - 3:18pm

So Long Antibodies, Welcome Frankenbody

Our bodies can deploy biomolecules to find, tag and destroy invading pathogens. They work by binding to specific targets, called epitopes, on the surfaces of antigens- like locks to keys. This selective tagging mechanism in natural antibodies has been valu ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 12 2019 - 9:20am

Confluence Of Hype: In Mice, A Genetic Change Prevents A Disease That Doesn't Exist

In modern American culture, two exploratory fields in science compete to scare the public or suggest the promise of miracle cures; epidemiology and studies in mice. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jul 5 2019 - 10:49am

CRISPR Leads To Genetic Sex Selection In Mammals For The First Time

Fish, insects, crustaceans, and even some plants possess the ability to change the sex of their offspring before they are born. It's a genetic skill mammals lack. Or did. A new study reveals a genetic system in mammals that enables two animals to mate ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2019 - 5:00am

Black-eyed Peas, The World's Toughest Bean, Gets Its Genome Cracked

Black-eyed peas, a global dietary staple for centuries due to their environmental toughness and nutritional qualities, are small beans with dark midsections. In sub-Saharan Africa they remain the number one source of protein in the human diet.  Now it' ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2019 - 9:27am

Perfect Day Sold Out Of Its GMO Cell-Based Ice Cream In Hours- At $20 A Pint

Ben&Jerry's is not going to roll out ice cream derived from geneticaly modified cells in a lab any time soon- their buying demographic hates science (although their parent conglomerate Unilever loves it)- but the public wants it now. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 22 2019 - 3:03pm

Ketogenic Diet Works For Infants With Epilepsy Due To Confirmed Genetic Abnormality

The ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet that has become a health fad but it was originally posited as a benefit for people with epilepsy. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 27 2019 - 4:07pm

Can Genetically Engineered Driscoll's Rosé Strawberries Really Be "Natural"?

One thing that makes the science community spit its Fresca out its collective nose is the organic industry's claims to be more natural than conventional. Mutagenesis, where seeds are literally dunked in chemical and radiation baths in hopes to get a g ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 28 2019 - 1:08pm