23andMe is using my data to sell drugs, and I’m okay with that
A year ago, I spit in a cup and signed my genetic data away to 23andMe. Today, I learned that they’ve used that data to develop a drug for psoriatric arthritis, and licensed it to a major pharmaceutical company.
Science communication shouldn’t just be aimed at the general public
I recently attended a large synthetic biology conference. Pam Ronald, a renowned plant pathologist who is also known for being outspoken about genetic engineering gave one of the keynote addresses. As one of the few people from a plant biology background in the room, what happened afterwards surprised me. Dr. Ronald’s talk focused on the…
Science denialism is a bipartisan issue
Many people, especially scientists, seem to assume that science denialism is a republican problem. In addition to being untrue, this assumption can be counterproductive.
What does OMICS really mean?
Scientists are constantly attaching new words to the suffix “omics”: genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics….. So what exactly does “omic” mean, and how is it useful?
Does intelligence REALLY come from our mothers?
There was recently a viral blog post claiming that we inherit intelligence from our mothers. This claim is way off base. Here’s what the science really says.
Plants have memories (sort of)
We know that plants can remember certain attacks or weather changes and learn to respond to them more quickly. Some have called this plant neurobiology. A new study just demonstrated that plants may have proteins similar to the ones that cause mad cow disease. It’s the plants, they’re learning, they…remember.
Pollination is sexy
It’s springtime, so those of us with allergies might have noticed plants getting all animal planet with our sinuses. Seems most plants are pretty lose with their pollen, but when it comes to procreation, they’re very particular. So how do plants swipe right on a match?
Plants are really weird
Plants are extraordinary. In this post, I explain three surprising things you probably don’t know about plants.
Introns are not “junk DNA”
Introns — the noncoding regions of genes — are sometimes called junk DNA, but they play very important roles in controlling the activity of genes.
Hands-on Activity: Central Dogma of Biology
Hands-on activity to help teach the central dogma of biology to K-12 students.
Escaping The Bench 