Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Is our financial behaviour decided by genes? A group of young economists believe so. They've gone beyond neuroeconomics, and established a new field – genoeconomics. Here's what they hope to achieve. And the issues they face
James Watson's "Double Helix" was a fine science book when published in 1968. Time has turned it into a work of literature. "Now, of course, I can see what I couldn’t then: An epic of the loss of innocence, writ small and large"
"No transplants. No surgeries. No stem cells. Just add three genes, and watch sick hearts turn into healthier ones." Sounds like science fiction, but it's actually science fact. Here's a quick look at some astonishing new research
On tribalism, both our greatest and most dangerous genetic inheritance. "It is an uncomfortable fact that even when given a guilt-free choice, individuals prefer the company of others of the same race, nation, clan, and religion"
"The reason we have such a head for language and music is not that we evolved for them, but, rather, that language and music evolved for us." So are they an integral, natural part of what it means to be human? Changizi thinks not
"Shonnie Medina was a happy girl who felt she would die young." This is the story of how 185delAG became the most studied, and worried about, piece of DNA in history. It is a mutation in the BRCA1 gene, and it causes breast cancer
"If what is or is not an ethical truth is contingent on the types of biological organisms that we are, then changing the types of biological organisms that we are will change the nature of what is or is not ethical." Discuss
Wonderful story of Eric Lander, maths prodigy who made unusual U-turn into biology from his position teaching economics at Harvard Business School. Ended up as central figure in race to sequence human genome. An exceptional talent
"To biomedical researchers all over the world, twins offer a precious opportunity to untangle the influence of genes and the environment—of nature and nurture." Super feature looks into what makes identical twins different
Evolutionary biologists turn their attention to the origins of language. And their studies of comparative speech data produce some surprising results that challenge the views of traditional linguists, including Chomsky and Greenberg
"Jack Horner wants to make a dinosaur. Not from scratch – don’t be ridiculous. He says he’s going to do it by reverse-evolving a chicken." Perhaps not how most imagine hatching a T-Rex. Nonetheless this could, theoretically, work
Essay explaining libertarian's political philosophy. "Human nature is relatively constrained by our biology and evolutionary history, and therefore social and political systems must be structured around these realities"
Jason Munshi-South explains how we can see evolution in action, in New York City
