The New York Times, December 19, 2018

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In the 1800s, thousands of Aboriginal Australians were the victims of a terrible trade in the name of science. Anatomists opened their graves and stole their skeletons. After massacres of Aboriginal Australians, police officers sold body parts to museums.

Today, many of these bones lie far from home.

“Our old people’s remains have been stolen from this country, and they’re global, whether they be in London, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland — even in America,” said Gudju Gudju Fourmile, an elder of the Yidniji and Gimuy Walubara people in northern Australia.

Continue reading “‘Spirits Won’t Rest’: DNA Links Ancient Bones to Living Aboriginal Australians”


A Year in Friday’s Elk!

 

Thanks to everyone for subscribing to this newsletter through the year. Wrapping up 2018, I have some additional news to share about She Has Her Mother’s Laugh

1. The New York Times Book Review named it one of the notable books of the year.

2. The Guardian picked it as the Science Book of 2018.

3. She Has Her Mother’s Laugh also got onto a variety of other Best-of-2018 lists, including The Sunday Times (UK)Kirkus ReviewsNew Scientist,Smithsonian,Science News, and Science Friday

4. I made the long list for the PEN/EO Wilson Literary Science Writing Award alongside some amazing writers–both veterans and first-timers. Check them all out! Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, December 14, 2018”

The New York Times, December 13, 2018

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People who sign up for genetic testing from companies like 23andMe can find out how much of their DNA comes from Neanderthals. For those whose ancestry lies outside Africa, that number usually falls somewhere between 1 percent and 2 percent.

Scientists are still a long way from understanding what inheriting a Neanderthal gene means to people. Some Neanderthal genes may be helpful — improving our defenses against infections, for example — but other bits may leave carriers slightly more prone to certain diseases.

Continue reading “Narrower Skulls, Oblong Brains: How Neanderthal DNA Still Shapes Us”

The New York Times, December 7, 2018

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Some 252 million years ago, Earth almost died.

In the oceans, 96 percent of all species became extinct. It’s harder to determine how many terrestrial species vanished, but the loss was comparable.

The New York Times, December 1, 2018

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It felt as if humanity had crossed an important line: In China, a scientist named He Jiankui announced on Monday that twins had been born in November with a gene that he had edited when they were embryos.

But in some ways this news is not new at all. A few genetically modified people already walk among us.

In the mid-1990s, fertility doctors in New Jersey got an idea for how to help women have children. They suspected that some women struggled to become pregnant because of defective material in their eggs.

Continue reading “Genetically Modified People Are Walking Among Us”