Genetics & Molecular Biology

Concern About Microplastics From Sex Toys Overblown

Microplastics are a kernel of biological concern that gets magnified by hype, like endocrine "disrupting" chemicals or weedkillers detectable in breast milk. In modern times, we can detect anything in anything, so the 'zero' levels of t ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Nov 14 2023 - 6:21pm

We're So Wealthy Even Poor People Can Afford To Be Fat- Ask For Less Fatty Liver Disease For Christmas

The upside to greater wealth equality than at any point in human history is that nearly everyone can afford food for the first time ever. The famines of the 1980s have been effectively eliminated by science. The downside is that cultural maturity has not k ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 9 2023 - 11:54am

I confess: I'm jealous of frogs, lizards and salamanders because of their stem cells

I confess. I'm jealous of frogs, lizards and salamanders. Why? Because of their stem cells and transdifferentiation potential. Compared to them, us humans are pathetic in terms of our ability to heal ourselves, regenerate body structures, and change ...

Blog Post - Paul Knoepfler - Jan 11 2024 - 2:02pm

APA Gene Expression Mechanism May Have Immunity, Cancer Implications

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is an RNA processing mechanism that regulates gene expression by generating different ends on RNA transcripts of the same gene. Though it affects more than half of human genes, the significance of APA was poorly understoo ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2024 - 4:27pm

Life May Be Found In Sea Spray Of Moons Orbiting Saturn Or Jupiter Next Year

Life may be detected in a single ice grain containing one bacterial cell or portions of a cell which means it could be found in the frozen sea spray from the moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter. Finding that will take is a mass spectrometer onboard a spacecra ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 23 2024 - 10:53pm

The 'Jew' In All Of Us

This is not a story of Lost Tribes, but of lost history--the discovery of "Jewish genes" in Hispano Christian populations of the American Southwest. Jon Entine, author of Abraham's Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chose People, r ...

Article - Jon Entine - Apr 16 2024 - 4:03pm

Weekend Science: Pigs That Taste Like Rye Whiskey

If you're like me, you always throw a little Pabst Blue Ribbon on meat. Some people use whiskey in their marinade. At the Templeton Rye Distillery in Templeton, Iowa they are cutting out the middleman- they are trying to create pork that already taste ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - May 10 2024 - 8:26am

Brown Fat’s “Off-Switch” Isn't A New Ozempic Diet Exploit

Brown adipose tissue is different from the white fat around human belly and thighs. Brown fat helps to turn calories into heat and it was once thought that only small animals like mice and newborns had brown fat but some adults retain it. If some people ha ...

Article - News Staff - May 23 2024 - 12:10pm

Non-GMO Beer: For The Anti-Science Hippie Alcoholic In You

Peak Organic Brewing Co. has announced that it has become the first brewer to receive Non-GMO Project verification for its beer. They believe this makes their product more 'pure' than beers which contain grains that have instead been randomly mut ...

Article - Hank Campbell - May 31 2024 - 11:28am

Tangential Science: Jurassic Beer And Ptolemy According To Homer

Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 5 2024 - 10:36am