Category Archives: News

TOP JOURNALS: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCIENCE MAGAZINE (FEB 5, 2021)

This week, Science celebrates the impending 20th anniversary of the publication of the draft human genome sequence—a landmark achievement by any measure…The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an internationally supported public project (Celera Genomics was the private effort that simultaneously sequenced the human genome). When the endeavor was launched in 1990, collaboration among a diverse group of scientists was essential because the sequencing was distributed across a number of international research sites.

Read full research highlights

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, the publisher of Science) also looks forward to next week’s annual meeting, whose theme is “Understanding Dynamic Ecosystems.” At first glance, these two events may seem unrelated. But the successful completion of the human genome sequence ushered in biology’s era of “big science” and created a research ecosystem for tackling complex, technology-driven, and data-intensive multidisciplinary projects that continue to improve our understanding of cancer, the microbiome, the brain, and other areas of biology.

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an internationally supported public project (Celera Genomics was the private effort that simultaneously sequenced the human genome). When the endeavor was launched in 1990, collaboration among a diverse group of scientists was essential because the sequencing was distributed across a number of international research sites. High-throughput technologies for DNA sequencing were critical to the project’s success, and the participation of biotech companies in the effort was instrumental in driving down the cost, speed, and throughput of generating DNA sequence. The ever-increasing amount of sequence data drove the development of mathematical and computational tools for assembling and annotating the data. Neither the laboratory scientists nor the computational scientists could have done this alone, and the convergence of these disciplines has been one of the most important legacies of the early genome efforts. There was also a commitment to train the next generation of genome scientists, and over the past 20 years, many colleges and universities have established new undergraduate and graduate programs in quantitative and systems biology. Life sciences students today graduate with a very different set of skills than they did in 2000.

Morning News Podcast: Opioid Payment, GameStop Profits, Employment Data

A.M. Edition for Feb. 4. A hedge fund made nearly $700 million in the GameStop rally. Consulting giant McKinsey reaches a settlement centering on opioid painkillers.

Plus, WSJ economics reporter Kate Davidson previews coming jobs data. Marc Stewart hosts.

Morning News Podcast: Republican Party Issues, Impeachment, Amazon

House GOP leaders are dealing with divisions on two fronts, including how to deal with freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her incendiary comments and support for conspiracy theories. 

And, the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins next week and House managers have detailed their case that he is singularly responsible for the Capitol insurrection. Also, Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon after 27 years at the company he founded.

Morning News Podcast: Stimulus Plan, Snow In Northeast, New Covid Test

President Biden meets Republicans to discuss stimulus plan, snow, wind hammer U.S. Northeast, and investor puts GameStop gains to good use at Texas children’s hospital.

Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On A Bipartisanship Deal (Video)

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including the challenges of bipartisanship under President Biden, Biden’s economic relief package, and cooperation in the Democratic Party.

Morning News Podcast: $1.9 Trillion Relief, Coup In Myanmar, Russia Protests

President Biden has invited Senate Republicans to the White House to hear their response to his proposed $1.9 trillion relief package. Also, in Myanmar the military has staged a coup and taken control of the civilian government.

And, protests in Russia continued for a second weekend over the jailing of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

GLOBAL NEWS PODCAST: Nuclear Nations, West Bank & Gaza, Boeing Flies

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week: who will go nuclear next?new leadership is needed in the West Bank and Gaza (9:45) and can Boeing fly without government help? (15:35)

Sunday Morning Podcast: World News From Zurich, London & Bangkok (Jan 31)

The weekend’s biggest discussion topics covered by Monocle’s Tyler Brûlé, Juliet Linley, Eemeli Isoaho and Marcus Schögel, with commentary from our editors in London and Bangkok.

Plus: what’s on the pages of Iceland’s Morgunblaðið newspaper.

World News Podcast: Headlines From London, Paris & Vienna (Jan 30)

The weekend’s biggest discussion topics: Simon Brooke on the day’s newspapers, Monocle’s editor in chief Andrew Tuck’s column and a look at ‘Alexander’, a new digital storytelling platform.

Political News: ‘Brooks & Capehart’ On Biden’s Executive Actions (Video)

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including President Biden’s use of executive actions, Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package, and the state of the Republican Party after former President Trump.