In the field of ancient DNA, scientists keep doing the impossible. The very idea of reading genes from organisms that died thousands of years ago once seemed absurd. Then it became fairly commonplace. Still, some kinds of old DNA seemed off limits. The only place scientists could hope to find it was cold places where the molecule had a chance of surviving for millennia. Finding ancient DNA in a place like Africa seemed a fool’s errand.

Scientists are crashing through that barrier, too. A place like Africa may not be as cold as Alaska. But it does include sites–high-altitude caves, for example–where some DNA can survive. And new, sensitive tests can detect DNA in samples that would have seemed gene-free a few years ago. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, September 24, 2017” →

This week I asked my editor at the New York Times if I needed to make a disclosure of possible conflict of interest. The trouble is that I have a tapeworm named after me: Acanthobothrium zimmeri.

The reason for the question was the topic of my column: the dire threat that parasites now face. A massive study of parasites around the world shows that climate change could drive as many as 1 in 3 species extinct. I worry that Acanthobothrium zimmeri, which infects a tropical skate, will wink out of existence. My editor didn’t see the need for a disclosure. But I figured that you, dear reader, should know. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, September 16, 2017” →