Genetics & Molecular Biology

We're All Mutants, But You'll Never Be In The X-Men

Everyone is a mutant but some are prone to diverge more than others. The difference is largely based on two influences. One is the age of a child's parents. A child born to a father who is 35 years old will likely have more mutations than a sibling bo ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 25 2019 - 6:05am

Alcohol Is Fertility Statistical Magic- But Not In The Way You Think

A new review of other papers claims that unless women stopped drinking alcohol a year prior to conception they probably gave their kids future congenital heart disease. The authors are not kidding. And binge drinking was correlated to 52 percent higher bi ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Oct 3 2019 - 12:11pm

Realistic Lab Grown Meat Gets A Step Closer With Textures

Though plant burgers like Beyond and Impossible have surged in popularity, they are still alternative versions of the real thing. Science has been consistently pushing toward real meat, but grown in a lab, which should defuse activist claims about the meat ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2019 - 10:57am

Is There Really GMO Pot?

An interesting issue came up through my volunteer work for the new website, " GMOAnswers.com ".  Apparently some pot users are concerned that they might be unwittingly consuming what they consider to be a dreaded "GMO."   The irony is t ...

Article - Steve Savage - Oct 24 2019 - 12:55pm

If You Are A Biologist, You Should Stop Giving Money To AAAS Right Now

In February, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) issued a bombastic press release to announce its 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was going to to Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasumana, anti-glyphosate prote ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Nov 5 2019 - 9:20am

At This Cedars-Sinai Laboratory, Stem Cells Get Thanksgiving Too

"Many people have dogs. We have stem cells," says Cedars-Sinai Hospital lab manager Loren Ornelas-Menendez about why they will be working on Thanksgiving, hand-feeding a special formula to their charges and making sure they stay at just the right ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 25 2019 - 1:25pm

Just The Tip: How Maristem Biotech Could Lead To Higher Food Yields

Biotechnology is the future of plant optimization, because ecology and people demand more sustainable food development, and that means embracing progress. A roadmap of the genes which drive plant architecture in maize will help, because plants grow through ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 9 2019 - 4:58pm

Mitochondria Send Out Cellular Distress Signals When DNA Are Damaged, Like In Chemotherapy

Mitochondria, the energy factories in most of our cells that convert the fat, carbohydrates, and protein we eat into a common energy currency used by our bodies, also set off molecular alarms when cells are exposed to stress or chemicals that can damage DN ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2019 - 2:44pm

Rogue Science? The Case Of The First Gene-Edited Babies

The idea of scientists tinkering with the genes of babies was once the provenance of science fiction, but now it’s apparently entered the realm of reality: On Nov. 26, Chinese scientist He Jiankui reported the historic live births of twin girls whose gene ...

Article - The Conversation - Dec 30 2019 - 2:53pm

Not Jimmy Hoffa: Buffalo Cave Torso Identified Using Forensic Genealogy

The Civil Defense Caves in Dubois, Idaho, utilized as potential fallout shelters during the Cold War, are actually ancient lava tubes. Since they are easily accessible caves they have become popular family treks. In August of 1979, one such trek had a fami ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 31 2019 - 4:21pm