Tag: genetics

The quest to save the American chestnut tree.

We’re developing high-tech genetic tools to pour new life into animals lost to human destruction. Deciding how — and whether — to use that power is as complex as the science behind it.

Alicia Lutes contemplates her family’s history of addiction, her mother’s failing liver, and the effect it’s all had on her generation.

Jennifer Berney explores how queer families challenge traditional notions of heredity and paternity.

Patrick Burleigh carried an extremely rare genetic mutation, which brought on puberty prematurely.

At a bleak moment in human history, these essays explore the case for not reproducing.

Shelby Vittek reflects on the bittersweet experience of watching herself be born — and her now-divorced mom and dad become parents — again and again.

Should we try to correct disabilities to help the disabled, or make their existence easier for the abled?

The emerging science of epigenetics argues that poverty can change our genetic expression.

Ross Andersen’s captivating profile of Nikita Zimov and his quest to re-create a Pleistocene ecosystem is worth reading, not least for a fascinating explanation of how grasses went from being slimy ocean plants to covering huge swaths of the planet.

In Gibraltar, science writer Gaia Vince discovers that analyzing the genetics of ancient humans means changing ideas about our evolution.

Through her work on clone-thriller Orphan Black, science consultant Cosima Herter has helped open our eyes to the possibilities and perils of synthetic biology and the pursuit of genetic perfection.

A short piece published in BBC Magazine explored the science of whether murderers are born or made. A British neurocriminologist named Adrian Raine has made a career out of studying the brains of violent criminals. Raine was the first person to conduct a brain imaging study on murderers, and has since scanned the brains of numerous homicidal individuals, looking for similarities. […]