Mutations
Countries Shut Borders Over Threat Posed By New ‘Highly Mutated’ COVID Variant
Countries in Europe and Asia have reacted quickly to the B.1.1.529 variant that scientists warn could be more transmissible than the delta variant.
New COVID-19 Variant With ‘Horrific’ Mutations Identified in Three Countries
Only 10 cases of the new variant, first spotted in Botswana, have been reported to date, but virologists say there is cause for concern.
CRISPR Is Not Accurate Enough to Save Us Yet
Scientists are at odds over a study that says gene editing comes with thousands of unwanted mutations.
3D Printed Sci-Fi Sculptures Imagine Our Shiny Insect Future
Belgian artist Nick Ervinck references history to imagine the future in a series of 3D-printed sculptures.
Neanderthal Inbreeding Made Some Humans Weaker Today
Harmful mutations in Neanderthals' genome left some humans today with a genetic burden.
The Exciting and Terrifying Future of DNA Editing
Siddhartha Mukherjee's new book delivers a sweeping history of genetics—from the cockamamie ideas that preceded the birth of the field to a striking picture of what the future holds.
This Museum Documents All the Ways Man Has Messed With Nature
Pittsburgh's Center for PostNatural History is, according to the museum's curator, "dedicated to living organisms that have been intentionally altered by people."
Why Smokers Are More Susceptible to Tuberculosis
Researchers used genetically-modified zebrafish to explore why smokers are more likely to contract the bacterial infection.
Is This Four-Eared 'Jackalope' Bunny a Nuclear Mutant? We Asked a Park Ranger
The four-earred snowshoe hare has been spotted in a national park in Canada.
Why Males Exist
Sex really doesn’t seem like the most efficient way to reproduce, so why do so many species do it?
Northern Territory Scientists Are Making the Banana Australians Deserve
Like all good things it's going to take cloning, mutation, and a bit of random luck.