2021

The Trap of Pseudo-Sustainability

Last week, I received an email from Brandless, an online store that specializes in affordable, healthy, and environmentally-conscious products. Their email was advertising their new line of “tree-free” products – paper products that are made from bamboo and sugarcane, rather than trees. I strive to be environmentally conscious, but I am also a person who

Starve not the goose that lays the golden egg: The importance of federally funded research

What do frog skin, horseshoe crab blood, and a llama named Winter all have in common? All three were part of studies that have been awarded Golden Goose awards, a designation given to strange sounding but ground-breaking federally funded research. Frog skin was used in experiments to determine the mechanism underlying cholera and directly led

In Defense of Natural History Museums

What becomes of species that no longer exist, or bygone narratives of human history? Where do scientists go for answers when our questions span continents and centuries? For the answer to these questions and so many more, we need museums. Natural history museums in particular serve as the nexus between research and people, spanning numerous

The Future of CRISPR Therapy

Although rewriting the code of life seems like a daunting task, scientists have managed to do just that. You've probably heard of CRISPR technology, a burgeoning genetic tool that has seen use in a multitude of applications, from treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice to making crops more sustainable. The technology offers a method of

Biases in STEM: Gender Discrimination Affects UGA Faculty

“I think my career was negatively impacted by being a woman,” said Ellen Neidle, professor of microbiology at the University of Georgia (UGA), who has a doctorate in molecular, developmental, and cellular biology. “I always thought that women could do everything. It was a pretty big shock to me when I first realized that wasn't

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