WTF Is With the Pink Pineapples at the Grocery Store?!
On a recent trip to Giant Eagle, my local grocery store in Pittsburgh, I noticed something new in the fruit section: a single pineapple packaged in a pink and forest-green …
genetics
The US Is Cracking Down on Synthetic DNA
The White House has issued new rules aimed at companies that manufacture synthetic DNA after years of warnings that a pathogen made with mail-order genetic material could accidentally or intentionally …
This Woman Will Decide Which Babies Are Born
Walk me through your own decision to do this—to use Orchid’s technology on yourself. I mean, I started the company because I wanted to test my own embryos. Because of …
The Keys to a Long Life Are Sleep and a Better Diet—and Money
And of course there are other priorities: infectious disease, pandemic control, global health, prevention of childhood diseases. If you ask Bill Gates, he’d have a whole different set of priorities. …
The Age of Crispr Medicine Is Here
So far, only nine centers across the US are currently offering Casgevy, which may limit who gets access to it. Vertex says the number of participating sites will grow in …
Dr. Alison Todd’s Inventions May Save Your Life
“At the risk of sounding arrogant, I would say one of my greatest and ongoing challenges stems from being ahead of my time,” Dr. Todd explains. “My vision for medicine …
New Jersey Keeps Newborn DNA for 23 Years. Parents Are Suing
The Institute for Justice, a libertarian nonprofit, and the parents behind the lawsuit claim there’s no reason for the state to keep samples that long. “The New Jersey Department of …
New Trials Aim to Restore Hearing in Deaf Children—With Gene Therapy
While the Novartis trial was happening, Lustig and others were working on ways to restore hearing in genetic forms of hearing loss. In 2019, Lustig and his collaborators showed that …
A Groundbreaking Human Brain Cell Atlas Just Dropped
Today, an international team of researchers shared an extraordinarily detailed atlas of human brain cells, mapping its staggering diversity of neurons. The atlas was published as part of a massive …
DNA Drives Help Identify Missing People. It’s a Privacy Nightmare
That’s why Natalie Ram, a law professor at the University of Maryland, cautions that, although families of missing loved ones may be desperate to get answers, it matters which DNA …