Mother Jones recently ran a piece written and illustrated by editorial fellow, Joe Kloc, on the emerging science of epigenetics. In "The Illustrated Guide to Epigenetics," Kloc gives a basic introduction to epigenetics, and explores how non-genetic environmental factors such as smoking and stress can impact genetic expression. Considering that this important area of study receives considerably less attention than genetics, it is nice to see Mother Jones provide its readers with this pleasant primer. Of course, it remains to be seen if and how this emerging field will impact future medical, research and policy decisions.
At the beginning of Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s blockbuster documentary You Can See Everything, Billy Evans (partner of Theranos founder and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes), says that they decided to do the film for one purpose: “radical transparency.” As they work on “Theranos 2.0,” Evans and Holmes want to show the public that she has been misunderstood –– painted as a liar and a fraud in the public imagination (and the courts) despite, as she claims in the...
We live in an era of endless optimization. Fitness trackers help us measure our lifespan, people are consuming piles of protein in an attempt to be their best selves, and there’s even an urge to maximize our morality. In...
In recent months, news came out about several distressing cases that have underscored the risks of gene therapy, which delivers DNA to a patient’s cells to treat disease. All of these cases have one thing in common that’s not apparent...
Heritable genome editing in human embryos is once again under intense scrutiny after the publication of an opinion piece in Trends in Genetics at the end of last month.1 In the paper, Cathy Tie, the founder and chief...
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