On November 24, 1859, the first edition of a book that would shake the most deeply established beliefs about life was published in London. What would eventually be known as "The Origin of Species" was the opening shot in a debate that hasn't ended, even 150 years later.
Like most people, I'd given some thought to what meat actually is, but until I became a father and faced the prospect of having to make food choices on someone else's behalf, there was no urgency to get to the bottom of things.
Why do some people get hooked on drugs and alcohol, while others can party hard and walk away? We tend to think it's a matter of willpower or moral fiber, but it has more to do with a roll of the genetic dice.
Alisa Rock, whose 10-year-old son Connor has autism, says parents of autistic children often align themselves with one of two camps: There are those who believe that genes cause the disorder, and those firmly convinced that environmental factors are to blame.
Three U.S. researchers have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for solving "a major problem in biology," the Nobel Committee announced Monday.
In the autumn of 2007, Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki launched the era of pop genetics by going live with 23andme, their DNA testing startup.
I have seen many weight loss DNA testing kits on the Internet. These tests claim to identify the best weight loss program by analyzing your DNA. Is there any merit to this?
If the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho scared you, here's another reason to scream: A new study says that potentially disease-causing germs can get trapped in showerheads and grow into biofilm, or coats of slime that deliver a bacteria blast along with your hot water.
Three years ago many would have dismissed the notion that a significant supply of the world's automotive fuel could come from algae. But today the idea, while still an adventurous one, is getting much harder to ignore.
For 12 years, Georgia Dunston and Dr. Chiledum Ahaghotu have been trying to figure out why African-American men develop prostate cancer at an earlier age and are twice as likely to die from it than any other group in the United States.
On November 24, 1859, the first edition of a book that would shake the most deeply established beliefs about life was published in London. What would eventually be known as "The Origin of Species" was the opening shot in a debate that hasn't ended, even 150 years later.
Like most people, I'd given some thought to what meat actually is, but until I became a father and faced the prospect of having to make food choices on someone else's behalf, there was no urgency to get to the bottom of things.
Why do some people get hooked on drugs and alcohol, while others can party hard and walk away? We tend to think it's a matter of willpower or moral fiber, but it has more to do with a roll of the genetic dice.
Alisa Rock, whose 10-year-old son Connor has autism, says parents of autistic children often align themselves with one of two camps: There are those who believe that genes cause the disorder, and those firmly convinced that environmental factors are to blame.
Three U.S. researchers have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for solving "a major problem in biology," the Nobel Committee announced Monday.
In the autumn of 2007, Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki launched the era of pop genetics by going live with 23andme, their DNA testing startup.
I have seen many weight loss DNA testing kits on the Internet. These tests claim to identify the best weight loss program by analyzing your DNA. Is there any merit to this?
If the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho scared you, here's another reason to scream: A new study says that potentially disease-causing germs can get trapped in showerheads and grow into biofilm, or coats of slime that deliver a bacteria blast along with your hot water.
Three years ago many would have dismissed the notion that a significant supply of the world's automotive fuel could come from algae. But today the idea, while still an adventurous one, is getting much harder to ignore.
For 12 years, Georgia Dunston and Dr. Chiledum Ahaghotu have been trying to figure out why African-American men develop prostate cancer at an earlier age and are twice as likely to die from it than any other group in the United States.
ExxonMobil is teaming up with the biotech research company run by genomics pioneer Craig Venter to produce algae-based biofuels.
Price competition is coming to the rarified world of genome sequencing.
What was the name of that guy with that stuff in that place with those things? Don't you remember?
Here's a little-known fact: Under current law, it's possible to hold a patent on a piece of human DNA, otherwise known as a gene.
Your left brain is logical, linear, by-the-numbers; the right side is creative, artistic, empathetic. Oprah Winfrey talks with Daniel Pink about his groundbreaking book, "A Whole New Mind", and explores how right-brain thinkers are wired for 21st-century success.
If you want to peer inside your DNA, there's no shortage of companies offering avenues for doing so these days.
Have at least $68,000 to spare? If so, you may be in the running to join an exclusive group of individuals who have had their complete genome sequenced.
Beneath an Antarctic glacier in a cold, airless pool that never sees the sun seems like an unusual place to search for life.
When Julian Asher listens to an orchestra, he doesn't just hear music; he also sees it. The sounds of a violin make him see a rich burgundy color, shiny and fluid like a red wine, while a cello's music flows like honey in a golden yellow hue.
Step into the greenhouse at Sapphire Energy, a small biofuel company in San Diego, and you might expect to be accosted by rows of exotic tropical orchids or at least a few tomato plants. But the only thing growing here is algae - lots of it.
The world of technology is filled with epic face-offs: Betamax vs. VHS, Netscape vs. Microsoft's Windows Explorer, Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD.
An internationally renowned paleontologist will plead guilty to stealing dinosaur bones from federal land, his attorneys said in a court filing.
Researchers announced this week that they've found a new gene, ALS6, which is responsible for about 5 percent of hereditary Lou Gehrig's cases.
Before there was an extensive fossil record, DNA sequencing or even a basic understanding of genetics, there was Charles Darwin.
Soon, the food you put on your dinner table may be from cloned animals and chances are, you won't even know it. The Food and Drug Administration announced in January 2008 that's it OK to sell meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats. What does this mean to the consumer? Is cloned meat safe? How does it differ from regular animal products?
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania announced in April 2008 the use of an innovative gene therapy treatment to safely restore vision in three adults with a rare form of congenital blindness. The technique involves an injection that delivers DNA to the nucleus of a cell so it can begin making the protein that the blind patients don't have. Although the patients have not achieved normal eyesight, the results set the stage for possible treatment of other retinal diseases.
The chances of surviving ovarian cancer appear to vary dramatically depending on the levels of two tumor proteins, suggesting that this type of cancer may have a more nuanced outlook than the grim statistics indicate.
This week while you're traveling, if you happen to spot a man applying hand sanitizer as he gets off an escalator, there's a good chance it's Dr. Mark Gendreau, a senior staff physician at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts.
A team of scientists at Penn State University could be one step closer to bringing extinct species back to life.
As bioengineers continue to build things with the stuff of life itself, the rest of the world is slowly waking up to the power of synthetic biology.
About one in seven men has a combination of genes -- one new and one first discovered in 2001 -- that increases his risk of male pattern baldness sevenfold, compared to men without the combination.
Workers at a Galveston, Texas, laboratory said to contain dangerous biological agents secured the pathogens Friday ahead of Hurricane Ike, officials said.
According to a new study of an active Amish population, researchers say fat genes may not destine you to a lifetime of obesity
Scientists have mapped the cascade of genetic changes that turn normal cells in the brain and pancreas into two of the most lethal cancers
Dr. Francis Collins, arguably the nation's leading geneticist, is working on a book that promises "stunning new revelations about why we get sick, what it means to be healthy and more
It took the Human Genome Project $3 billion and 13 years to map the first genome and reduce it to a chemical code six billion letters long. Today, with faster computers and improved techniques, a research laboratory can sequence your DNA in about six weeks at a cost of $100,000 to $300,000.
Antibodies are a tricky thing. Some confer protection for years, some a lifetime. To help explain, Eric Altschuler discusses new findings about the 1918 pandemic flu virus
Infections may play a bigger role in premature birth than doctors have thought, says a new study that found almost one in seven women in preterm labor harbored bacteria or fungi in their amniotic fluid
A federal prosecutor formally declared Army biological researcher Bruce Ivins the sole person responsible for creating and mailing the bacterial spores that killed five people in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Tom Perls, an aging expert at Boston University, explains why women live five to 10 years longer than men
Preliminary studies of mice suggest that our willingness to exercise -- or not -- may be genetic
Pond scum. The thought typically evokes images that leave most people cringing, but it may one day occupy an important role in the nation's energy supply.
Our visits to the gym seem to be a lot more dangerous lately. Forget battling only boredom and feeling the pain. Now the fight is us against them -- and the enemy is germs.
Research points to learning-related genes as a contributor to autism and suggests that early intervention in children can help fix genetic defects
Researchers have discovered how the cold sore virus hides in the body, which may be the key to a permanent cure
A forest of blue-green algae is choking the coastal waters near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, causing problems and threatening Olympic events scheduled there
Oliver Smithies speaks fondly of Danish potatoes and beautiful equations. More on the potatoes later. Smithies is credited with helping to revolutionize genetic studies. For more than half a century his passion for science and tireless experimentation have revealed some of DNA's best-kept secrets and he's not about to stop.
Scientists say they have found dinosaur tracks on the Arabian Peninsula, a discovery they say may shed more light on where dinosaurs lived, their migration patterns and how they evolved they way they did
Thirty years ago, the last time the world faced an oil crisis, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) launched a program to analyze the potential algae had as a renewable fuel. It didn't take it long to realize algae was a godsend.
Why do some smokers get cancer and others don't? Scientists have discovered two genetic variants that may be the reason
A groundbreaking new study helps explain why some people succumb to post-traumatic stress disorder while others don't
I am one of the most avid sports fans you'll find," Se-Jin Lee says. It's true. He'll watch anything. Basketball. Football. Fútbol. Billiards on channel seven-hundred-whatever. As a graduate student in the '80s Lee used to sit in his car in the driveway with the radio on to listen to the games of faraway baseball teams. Even now, in his lab at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, he easily rattles off the NCAA basketball tournament winners in order from 1964 to 2007. And, like anyone who values fair competition these days, he's disturbed by the issue of performance-enhancing drugs in sports.
For years, political scientists assumed our political leanings came from the way we were raised and the company we keep. You're a screaming liberal? Must be because you were raised in a household full of screaming liberals. You're an arch conservative? Must be because of that college you went to.
Craig Venter has built the first man-made genome. Soon those genes may cause a cell to come alive. This tiny organism will be Venter's own -- and that's just the start
Food from healthy clones of cattle, swine and goats is as safe as food from non-cloned animals, the Food and Drug Administration said in a report released Tuesday.
In a long-awaited and controversial decision, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that food products derived from cloned cattle, swine, goats, sheep and their offspring are safe enough to enter the U.S. food supply.
A rare genetic variation dramatically raises the risk of developing autism, a large study showed, opening new research targets for better understanding the disorder and for treating it
As early as Tuesday, the FDA is likely to issue U.S. food producers an approval to begin selling meat and dairy from cloned animals and their offspring.
It's the season for giving and receiving -- yes, of course, gifts and food and holiday cheer, but also something you probably don't want: germs.
Genes that regulate the brain's sensitivity to dopamine -- a chemical involved in addiction and motivation -- can affect the ability to learn from our errors
Yellowstone's geysers and vents may hold the keys to pharmaceutical and industrial breakthroughs. But should the park profit from it?
Ever wanted to be a new you? Recent developments in cloning mean that day might be possible without therapy, a new diet or fitness regime.
Students at a high school in Virginia prepared Thursday for the funeral of a popular classmate, the victim of a deadly drug-resistant strain of bacteria that has turned up in schools across the country recently.
By now, you've seen the headlines about MRSA, the killer staph virus. Yes, it can be deadly, but it can also be treated
The market for diagnosing and preventing "superbug" staph infections could grow dramatically over the next few years, according to industry experts.
Biotechs and big pharma are betting billions on an experimental technology that could be a quantum leap for healthcare, or just a big bust.
Biologist-entrepreneur J. Craig Venter is part of a new kind of scientific explorer whose uncharted territory was his own genes.
British authorities ruled Wednesday that research using animal eggs to create human stem cells could go forward in principle.
Figuring out a way to turn wood pulp, sugar cane, wheat straw and other biomass products into ethanol is the easy part. Figuring out a way to do it economically and efficiently is where it gets tricky.
It's a sweet time for honeybees in the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania, and the ones humming around Dennis vanEngelsdorp seem too preoccupied by the blooming knapweed nearby to sting him as he carefully lifts the top off their hive. VanEngelsdorp, Pennsylvania's state apiarist, spots signs of plenty within: honeycomb stocked with yellow pollen, neat rows of wax hexagons housing larval bees, and a fertile queen churning out eggs.
In 1913, the New Jersey poet and critic Joyce Kilmer wrote "Trees," a poem which concludes with this simple rhyme:
The soil on Mars may contain microbial life, according to a new interpretation of data first collected more than 30 years ago.
Roche Holding AG has signed a deal worth up to $1 billion with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., giving it access to the U.S. firm's skills in the new science of RNA interference.
The remains of a giant, birdlike dinosaur as tall as the formidable tyrannosaur have been found in China, a surprising discovery that indicates a more complicated evolutionary process for birds than originally thought
A genetic mutation that raises the risk of breast cancer is found in up to 60 percent of U.S. women, making it the first truly common breast cancer susceptibility gene, researchers report.
A procedure that replaces faulty genes in the blind might hold cures for all kinds of genetic diseases and for cancer
Scientists have unlocked the genetic code that could pave the way to a new generation of highly effective cancer drugs with none of the painful side effects of existing treatments.
Clinical immunologist Dr. Ian Frazer is experiencing what many scientists can only dream of; developing a vaccine in a laboratory and then seeing it being used and marketed all over the world.
Wandering through the aisles of the local grocery store, one can't help but notice the number of everyday food products that now feature some added health benefit.
Jeff Hawkins was just another junior engineer at Intel in 1979 when he stumbled across an issue of Scientific American magazine that would illuminate a path to what would become his life's work.
One of the many joys of the World Cup is engaging in a 30-day frenzy of flag-hugging nationalism. Many Americans root for more than one team: the U.S. and the country of their ancestors. If you're ...
A new breed of nanobots is being designed to assist doctors by going where no surgeon or technology has gone before.
The background: Bacterial infections that were once easily treated with antibiotics like penicillin have gained frightening resistance during the past few decades - despite the mistaken assurance by the U.S. surgeon general in 1969 that "the war on infectious disease has been won."
A daily dose of good bacteria may be just what your doctor orders. Bacteria may sound unappetizing, but they're now being sold under the name "probiotic." From yogurt to smoothies to cereal, products that contain probiotics are becoming more popular at the local grocery store. CNN Medical Correspondent Judy Fortin spoke with Marisa Moore, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, about the pros and cons of probiotics.
The FDA announced a report Thursday finds meat and milk from adult cattle, pigs and goats and their offspring are safe for human consumption, although the agency is still asking producers not to introduce food from clones or their offspring into the food supply.
Last year, Hwang Woo-suk was Korea's scientific Superman. He had three institutes, a stamp created in his honor, and, over the years, $60 million at his disposal. His face was plastered on buses in...
Researchers say they have developed an enhanced map of the human genome that could yield breakthroughs in understanding the genetic origins of illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and various forms of cancer.
(Time.com) -- You don't have to be a biologist or an anthropologist to see how closely the great apes -- gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans -- resemble us.
Apart from those hoping to climb the corporate ladder, a lot of people sign up to business school with the aim of gaining the necessary skills to one day make millions as the boss of their own company.
As bizarre as it may seem, the sample jars brimming with cloudy, reddish rainwater in Godfrey Louis's laboratory in southern India may hold, well, aliens.
Your job may be making you sick, literally. And it may not be the mystery meat in the cafeteria. In today's Five Tips we're going to tell you how to combat the office germs.
Genes are the basic building blocks of life, and in studying them genetic science is giving us the ability to adapt and alter ourselves fundamentally, providing unprecedented opportunities to improve on nature.
Little Madison Sukenik crawls around her Fort Lauderdale home, grabbing everything in sight, putting much of it in her mouth.
It's been quite a week for Sirna Therapeutics -- and it's still only Monday.
Domagoj Vucic didn't come to Genentech for the rich stock options or the free cappuccino or the made-to-order sushi or the parties every Friday night. He came from the University of Georgia seven y...
Dr. When most kids were learning to ride bikes, little Frank J. Rauscher III was learning the ins and outs of a cancer research lab.
Disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk has apologized for publishing fake research on human stem cells, but said he was deceived by researchers at another lab.
One day after a panel investigating the work of disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk found that he faked claims of cloning human embryonic stem cells, the Seoul National University has issued a public apology.
A panel investigating the work of disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk has found that he faked claims of cloning human embryonic stem cells, in what could be the biggest cover-up in modern scientific history.
An eclectic week
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