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All by Itself, the Humble Sweet Potato Colonized the World

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The New York Times, April 12, 2018

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Of all the plants that humanity has turned into crops, none is more puzzling than the sweet potato. Indigenous people of Central and South America grew it on farms for generations, and Europeans discovered it when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean.

In the 18th century, however, Captain Cook stumbled across sweet potatoes again — over 4,000 miles away, on remote Polynesian islands. European explorers later found them elsewhere in the Pacific, from Hawaii to New Guinea.

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A Few Species of Frogs That Vanished May Be on the Rebound

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The New York Times, March 29, 2018

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In 2013, two biologists named Jamie Voyles and Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki spent weeks slogging up and down mountainsides in Panama. “We were bug-bitten and beat up,” recalled Dr. Voyles, now an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Near the end of their trek, they came to a stop. In front of them sat the object of their quest: a single gold-and-black frog.

“I can’t tell you what that moment was like,” Dr. Voyles said.

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Chile and Its Scientists Protest Research on Tiny Mummy

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The New York Times, March 28, 2018

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Days after researchers announced that a tiny mummy once rumored to be an alien was actually a human infant, Chilean scientists condemned the new study as unethical and their government began an investigation into grave robbing.

The Chilean National Monuments Council, a government agency, said in an email Tuesday that it had initiated an inquiry into whether the little girl’s remains were illegally exhumed in 2003 and smuggled out of the country. The council has turned over its records to the Public Ministry of Chile in response to the outcry from Chilean researchers. They contended that the grave site was plundered and the mummified skeleton was stolen, violating the country’s laws.

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What’s Behind Many Mystery Ailments? Genetic Mutations, Study Finds

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The New York Times, March 15, 2018

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Gregor Mendel discovered fundamental rules of genetics by raising pea plants. He realized that hidden factors — we now know them to be genes — were passed down from parents to offspring.

It wasn’t until the early 1900s, long after Mendel’s death, that doctors discovered that humans weren’t so very different. Some diseases, it turns out, are inherited — they’re Mendelian.

Today, scientists have identified over 7,000 Mendelian diseases, and many are discovered with screenings of children and adults. But a new study suggests that many disorders go undetected.

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How One Child’s Sickle Cell Mutation Helped Protect the World From Malaria

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The New York Times, March 8, 2018

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Thousands of years ago, a special child was born in the Sahara. At the time, this was not a desert; it was a green belt of savannas, woodlands, lakes and rivers. Bands of hunter-gatherers thrived there, catching fish and spearing hippos.

A genetic mutation had altered the child’s hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that ferries oxygen through the body. It was not harmful; there are two copies of every gene, and the child’s other hemoglobin gene was normal. The child survived, had a family and passed down the mutation to future generations.

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