In parallel with their development of the first synthetic gene drives - which greatly increase the chance a specific gene will be passed on to all offspring - George Church, Ph.D., and Kevin Esvelt, Ph.D., helped pioneer ...
Biotechnology
Nov 16, 2015
0
323
Using two yeasts that have been used to brew tea and beer for centuries, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have revealed how reproductive barriers might rapidly arise to create species boundaries. Schizosaccharomyces ...
Biotechnology
Jun 25, 2014
0
0
Competition is a strong driving force of evolution for organisms of all sizes: Those individuals best equipped to obtain resources adapt and reproduce, while others may fall by the wayside. Many organisms—mammals, birds ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 6, 2012
0
0
Paul Nelson is used to doing battle with an invasive fruit fly called the spotted wing drosophila, a pest that one year ruined more than half the berries on the Minnesota farm he and his team run. In recent years, they've ...
Agriculture
Jun 17, 2023
0
1
Advances in gene editing technologies are allowing for the development of potential new strategies for vector-borne disease control, pest management and conservation by genetically modifying organisms in a laboratory. These ...
Biotechnology
Dec 15, 2022
0
19
In less than 24 hours the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will update the Doomsday Clock. It's currently at 100 seconds from midnight—the metaphorical time when the human race could destroy the world with technologies ...
Environment
Jan 20, 2022
0
93
The fate of society rests in part on how humans navigate their complicated relationship with insects—trying to save "good" insects and control "bad" ones. Some insects, like mosquitoes, bite people and make them sick—remember ...
Biotechnology
Jul 15, 2020
0
4
When controlling mosquitoes that spread malaria, gene drives, which force genetic changes to proliferate in a population, are faster and more efficient than simply releasing mosquitoes that are immune to the parasite, according ...
Biotechnology
Dec 19, 2019
1
7
Most environmental science is focused on how to turn back the clock, not push it forward, says Ben Bostick, a geochemist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "We think about how we can roll back our footprint, and not so ...
Environment
Aug 15, 2019
0
26
Worried about mice in the kitchen? Fed up with pigeons on your way to work? Teed off by weeds on your lawn? Recent work points to a way that might just reduce – or even eliminate – unwanted species in a short period. ...
Biotechnology
Jul 6, 2018
0
5
