Meet some of the people featured in the December 2021 issue of The Scientist.

In his book’s Introduction, physician-scientist Paul A. Offit reviews the unusual constellation of circumstances around the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Every medical intervention—even one with a centuries-long history—brings dangers, some of which become clear only later.

In Chapter 6, author Henry T. Greely describes how news of the birth of gene-edited babies rocked a 2018 summit on human genome editing.

CRISPR and other innovations are likely to open up a wealth of new options for how people have children.

Not only is the humble fluid a boon for keeping humans cool, it also contains a wealth of biological information.

Join The Scientist on August 20 to discuss Chelsea Wald’s tour of projects aimed at improving toilets—and solving many of the world’s problems in the process.

The Scientist Social Club talked with the author.

In the book’s introduction, “Connections,” Suzanne Simard relates how her “perception of the woods has been turned upside down.”

Feeding the world’s insatiable appetite for wood products is sacrificing the future of a crucial ecosystem.

In Chapter 1, “The Indelible Stamp,” author Melanie Challenger addresses the idea of human exceptionalism.

Since Darwin published his landmark work on natural selection, we’ve understood that we’re animals. But that doesn’t mean we really believe it.

In Chapter 15, “Above the Falls,” author Jonathan Meiburg recounts an evening on a research expedition near the Rewa River in Guyana.

An unsung group of South American falcons yields clues to the prehistory of a continent, and hints at secrets of the avian brain.

In his book’s introduction, author Robert Paarlberg advocates for the use of modern science in agriculture.

Scientifically groundless regulations could undercut the potential of gene-edited crops, much as they have with GMOs.

In Chapter 3, “The Adventure,” author Tracie White meets Whitney Dafoe, a young man imprisoned by a chronic disease.

Ronald Davis of Stanford University changed his focus to research on ME/CFS, the disease formerly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, in a bid to help his son and others like him.

Ferreting out the biological function of dreaming is a frontier in neuroscience.