Biological exceptionalism: How two Italian sisters lived to 100

In my endless email about COVID-19 popped up a new paper analyzing the health of two Italian sisters who lived to remarkably old ages. “The Phenotypic Characterization of the Cammalleri…

RSV vaccine breakthrough prevents respiratory infections that pose serious hazards to older adults

It is not every day that drug development results in a breakthrough with the potential to eliminate an often serious and sometimes fatal disease, but one of those days occurred…

Unlocking Addiction Risk: Genetic Test Could Shape Future Prevention Strategies

Summary: A new study hints at the potential of utilizing genetic test results to improve addiction prevention and treatment strategies. The study involved 325 college students who were given varying…

Top 5 Neuroscience News Stories of the Week

Summary: This week, research teams from around the globe shared their remarkable findings from the field of neuroscience. Discoveries ranged from unraveling how Botox breaches neurons, to a study finding…

Gene Therapy Reverses Age-Related Hearing Loss

Summary: Researchers successfully demonstrated the efficacy of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors in reversing genetic hearing loss in aged animal models. The scientists developed a mature mouse model with a mutation…

Here’s how AI is protecting bees and helping farmers pollinate crops

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a new way to track the insect pollinators essential to farming. In a new study, we installed miniature digital cameras and computers inside a greenhouse at a strawberry farm…

Viewpoint: ‘Imposing impoverishment’ — How European leadership has failed by promoting ideological solutions to sustainability challenges in farming

It is hard to find anyone with anything positive to say about 2022: economic, social, ethical, political, geopolitical success stories were rare; suffering and setbacks commonplace. Where was the leadership…

Shared Genetics for Cannabis Use and Psychiatric Disorders

Summary: Researchers discovered shared genetic underpinnings for cannabis use and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Employing advanced statistical modeling, the study revealed a complex interplay of genetic variants…

How can we decrease risks of getting genetic-based diseases even if we carry potentially harmful genes?

The study of genetics has always been an attempt to understand our biologically determined fate. Many of us know of families with a predisposition to maladies like heart disease or…

Cracks appear in Europe’s opposition to CRISPR gene editing and other New Breeding Technologies

Despite what the anti-genetic engineering forces want you to believe, there is growing political, scientific and agricultural support across Europe for food grown from genetically engineered (GE) seeds. But is…