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The last major cultivated plant that didn't have its genome sequenced has finally gotten its day in the colinearity sun. The sugarcane genome has entered the modern molecular biology era.

America's worst drivers are likelier to be men or people who live in the South, are either young or old, or identify as Native American. America's best drivers are likelier to be women or people who live in the Northeast, are aged 35 to 75, or identify as Asian.

Another study, this time with female patients experiencing heart attacks, suggests female physicians have better survival outcomes than their male peers. What does this mean for pay inequity? 

What's the most cost-effective way to reduce drinking? As with other sins, taxes are best. And education? It doesn't even make the list.

Those who oppose vaccinations represent a form of tyranny, which occurs when a vocal minority overrides a complacent majority. Therefore, logic dictates that it's time to be less complacent.

Countries that use more pesticides don't have higher rates of pediatric cancer.

Organic food gets by on marketing and labels. The difficulty seems to be that labels like organic have no legal meaning, FDA Comissioner Gottlieb is setting his sights on the problem. 

Trial lawyers are cheering that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California ordered EPA to finalize its proposed ban on chlorpyrifos but the science is even less settled than the court case is. If you are not familiar with American law, the 9th is the most overturned appeals court by the Supreme Court of the United States, because their rulings are often overtly political, and therefore not grounded in evidence. 

The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and was signed into law June 22, 2016. It created a mandatory requirement for EPA to evaluate existing chemicals with clear and enforceable deadlines, to do so in a transparent fashion, and to do so using risk-based chemical assessments rather than rely on simple epidemiological correlations. 

When does repeating research studies surpass confirming known findings, for the purposes of validating legitimacy, to entering the world of the redundant and wasteful? When does more become less?

Perhaps Nick Kristof, the New York Times' non-expert on chemical toxicology, was on vacation. But the paper had a backup - Niraj Chokshi - to replace him. Chokshi is a psychology major who interviewed a member of the United States Public Interest Research Group, a bunch of lawyers, about scary chemicals in school supplies which aren't really scary at all. 

It seems that salt's association blood pressure and heart disease along with the recommended amount of salt needs to be reconsidered in light of this new study.

Our bodies break down carbohydrates and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which is transported from the bloodstream into our cells by the hormone insulin where it can be used for energy. Insulin also signals the liver to stop producing sugar.

Just like fingerprints, we all have a unique set of behavioral quirks.
For example, I tend to drink triple shot, iced vanilla lattes. Before beginning my work, I clean off the table using water and a napkin. (Seriously, why are coffee shop tables always so disgusting?) And, oftentimes, I tip my glasses in a peculiar way as I write my articles.

Some self-righteous busybodies, apparently not content with the carnage caused by their magnificently inept (mis)handling of the fake opioid crisis have taken up a new cause - one that will make many of you anxious. They want restrictions slapped on anti-anxiety drugs, like Xanax and Valium and don't seem to care that it's a terrible idea. 

With Caesarian sections rising many people question physician decision making. It's always easier to see the correct path after the fact, when you bear no responsibility. A new study looks at some of the concerns being considered in the decision-making process. Spoiler Alert: it is not about the money.

Much of the concern about social distancing and the use of masks centers around the airborne transmission of the virus. A recent study looks at how other factors, like temperature and humidity, make COVID-19 more or less viable when it comes to transmission.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is a limitation of how much air a person can inhale and exhale. Smoking has long been considered a major risk factor, but some smokers avoid the problem while some non-smokers develop COPD. A new study identifies a risk factor we haven't really considered that seems to play as large a role as smoking.

The group Americans for Responsible Technology declares 5G to be unsafe. This fringe anti-technology movement is gaining momentum, thanks to activists, their accomplices in the media, and Russian propaganda outlets like RT.

Despite irrefutable pharmacological evidence of the wide range in individuals' metabolism of opioid drugs, states continue to impose "one-size-fits-none" laws. For example, Massachusetts, apparently not entirely at peace with the abolition of the Salem witch trials, became the first state to establish a seven-day limit on first-time opioid prescriptions. Others followed. It's safe to say that no one is really paying attention to the science. So, here it is. Again.

Is medicine losing it’s greatest power, the power of touch? Pollution of a different type, light. The ongoing war between evidence gatherers and modelers. And was Transylvania Dracula’s home, or did he come from Ireland?

Many in mainstream media recently reported on the possibility of COVID-19 being transmitted during the flush of a toilet. While the physics involved appeared to be well modeled, the biologic implications are fuzzy at best. Here's how this scenario plays out.

Sixteen people walk into a bar... Sounds like an old joke, right? Except it isn't funny. Florida allowed some bars to open on June 5. One day later the 16 met in a packed Jacksonville Beach bar. All 16 came down with Covid-19. Perhaps someone ought to rethink that decision.

When we share our thoughts on science as well as our research efforts, the collective good is not well-served if we're speaking only to those who already share our perspective. And specifically, If we cannot convince our own colleagues that there's a serious and growing threat to their ability to continue to treat bacterial infections, then we cannot expect governments to believe us either. That has to change.

The BBC reports that the first life-saving drug for COVID-19 has been identified. While that is strictly true, without more context and numbers the impact of dexamethasone is obscured. Is this drug just click-bait material or actually a "major breakthrough"?