Studies The Scientist covered this year illustrate the expanding importance of genetic and genomic research in all aspects of life science, from ecology to medicine.
Scientists from countries with fewer resources are pushing collaborators from higher-income countries to shed biases and behaviors that perpetuate social stratification in the research community.
Brianna Chrisman and Jordan Eizenga | Sep 1, 2022 | 10+ min read
Thirty years out from the start of the Human Genome Project, researchers have finally finished sequencing the full 3 billion bases of a person’s genetic code. But even a complete reference genome has its shortcomings.
Illustration: A. Canamucio In a recent issue of The Scientist, an opinion article by Raymond J. O'Connor suggests that, in contrast to biomedical research, ecology has lagged behind the surging advances of most of the life sciences.1 O'Connor's main argument for the putative lag of ecological sciences is the failure to distinguish form from substance in the hypothetico-deductive research that drives most current scientific endeavors. Categorizing most ecological sciences as descriptive and poss
The Scientist and Jerome Siegel | Mar 1, 2016 | 10+ min read
Once believed to be unique to birds and mammals, sleep is found across the metazoan kingdom. Some animals, it seems, can’t live without it, though no one knows exactly why.
Bats harbor diverse pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS, and MERS viruses. Understanding why could help researchers stymie deadly emerging diseases.