diversity

Reviving the Cancer Moonshot, disentangling the microbiome's effect in cancer, the observer effect, and more

Percy Lavon Julian, a young, Black scientist working in Jim Crow America, gained international recognition after beating chemists at the University of Oxford in the race to synthesize the alkaloid physostigmine, used for decades as a treatment for glaucoma.

Denmark’s Novo Nordisk Foundation says it hopes that adding a randomization step to its award process will reduce implicit biases in selection and lead to funding more innovative, impactful research.

Multiple prestigious US biomedical research awards have rarely or never been granted to a scientist with Asian ancestry, illustrating racial bias within American research societies and institutions, a researcher argues.

The discovery, made on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, constitutes an exceptionally high number of new mammals to be described in a single paper.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute will invest the funds over 10 years across all stages of the STEM pipeline.

A large genome-wide association study in East Asians uncovers novel genetic links to depression, calling attention to the consequences of underrepresentation of non-European groups in genetic research data.

Researchers propose that some of the planet’s earliest photosynthesizers benefited from a slowing of the Earth’s rotation that allowed them to produce a surplus of oxygen and paved the way for more complex life.  

Collecting data on the various races, sexual orientations, and gender identities of editors at 25 scientific and medical journals, researchers document the underrepresentation of minority groups.

The culture of academia can make disabled scientists wary of disclosing their conditions or needs. Molecular biologist Justin Yerbury suggests how the system might become more inclusive. 

Researchers create a “consensus genome” that halves the number of errors when mapping transcripts, although they say the current standard is still a good tool.

Neanderthal DNA surprises in modern humans, the first blood test for Alzheimer’s, a discovery of new human salivary glands, and, oh yeah, a pandemic

The African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative plans to boost inclusion in genomic studies and support a more diverse generation of neuroscientists.

In a year of racial tumult, Black scientists are uniting for visibility and action. 

An analysis of the genomes of people from 50 ethnolinguistic groups in Africa spots 62 genes under positive selection and 3 million more genetic variants than previously documented.

A decade-long effort to probe gene regulation reveals differences between males and females, points to essential regulatory elements, and offers insight into past work on telomeres.

What we can and must do to make science more equitable.

A new report from the National Science Board identifies changes in the US’s global R&D investment and output, as well as in the country’s science and engineering workforce in recent years.

Speaking a common language is key to a well-integrated team, but guidance is sparse on what—if anything—principal investigators should do about it.