The Conversation

Nobel Prize for chemistry honors exquisitely precise gene-editing technique, CRISPR – a gene engineer explains how it works

Written by Piyush K. Jain, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida

American biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna, left, and French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier were awarded this year's Nobel Prize for chemistry.Alexander Heinl/picture alliance via Getty Images

Researchers have been able to manipulate large chunks of genetic code for almost 50 years. But it is only within the past decade that they have been able...

Nobel Prize for CRISPR honors two great scientists – and leaves out many others

Written by Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College

CRISPR enables editing DNA with unprecedented precision.wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images

The gene-editing technique CRISPR earned the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Recognition of this amazing breakthrough technology is well deserved.

But each Nobel Prize can be awarded to no more than three people, and that’s where this year’s prize...

La migración de las mariposas monarca está en riesgo, pero hay un plan para salvarla

Written by D. André Green II, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan

Mariposas monarch en el Santuario El Rosario en Michoacán, Mexico.Charlie Marchant/Flickr, CC BY

Uno de los eventos épicos de la naturaleza está en marcha: la migración otoñal de las mariposas monarca. Partiendo de todo Estados Unidos y Canadá, las mariposas viajan hasta 4.000 kilómetros para...

'What goes around comes around,' or what Greek mythology says about Donald Trump

Written by Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University Newark

Donald Trump's helicopter landing at the White House, Oct. 5, as he returns from being hospitalized at Walter Reed.Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

It’s hard to process the news of the president’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis without having recourse to some kind of mythological system, some larger frame of reference.

Karma, wrote one...

From recording videos in a closet to Zoom meditating, 2020's political campaigns adjust to the pandemic

Written by Barbara A. Trish, Professor of Political Science, Grinnell College

Eugene DePasquale, left, Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District, in Harrisburg, Penn., Sept. 19, shows that even the traditional handshake with voters has changed in pandemic-era campaigns.om Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

President Donald Trump may have eschewed masks and distancing in this pandemic year...

VIP patients can be a headache for their doctors

Written by Nancy Nielsen, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Health Policy, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

White House physician Sean Conley gives an update on the patient-in-chief on Oct. 3.Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The medical drama playing out daily since President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19 is alarming – but not surprising. Any physician who’s ever rendered medical advice or hospital care to a prominent person...

Allies and foes watch as Trump fights the coronavirus

Written by Monti Datta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

President Donald Trump may have removed his mask, but the uncertainty posed by his positive COVID-19 test continues.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

America’s national security officials are on alert and global markets shook – at least briefly – following the announcement that President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus that...

How a government-linked foundation could speed the spread of new clean-energy technologies

Written by David M. Hart, Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

Sometimes promising innovations, such as this glass that can harness solar energy, developed by scientist Lance Wheeler, take a long time to reach consumers.Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images

To address climate change over the coming decades, all nations will need to transition to energy resources that emit less carbon. This...

Finding joy in 2020? It's not such an absurd idea, really

Written by Angela Gorrell, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology, George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University

You don't need rose-tinted spectacles to find joy – even in the most stressful times. MEDITERRANEAN /Via Getty Images

The year 2020 hasn’t been one to remember – in fact, for a lot of people it has been an outright nightmare. The pandemic, along with political turmoil and social unrest, has brought anxiety, heartbreak, righteous...

Amid COVID-19 spike in ultra-Orthodox areas, Jewish history may explain reluctance of some to restrictions

Written by Joyce Dalsheim, Associate Professor of Global Studies, University of North Carolina – Charlotte

COVID-19 has spiked in ultra-Orthodox Jewish parts of New York City.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A spike in coronavirus cases in several Orthodox Jewish areas of New York has prompted state and city authorities to impose new localized restrictions aimed at halting the spread.

On Oct. 5, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that nearly 100 public...