Life is quantum
Posted on Wed October 29, 2014
Weird quantum effects are so delicate it seems they could only happen in a lab. How on Earth can life depend on them?
Read the full article at Aeon MagazineBiologist & Writer
Articles
Click the links below to read my published articles, please note the links will open in a new browser window/tab.
Click the links below to read the full article on The Guardian's website.
Don’t fear pig-human embryos – they could revolutionise our old age
Posted on Monday June 06, 2016
The scare stories are misleading – these stem-cell discoveries could help us replace failing organs, and transform the lives of millions of peopleOne of the most revered monuments of ancient...
Read the full article...Genetic editing is like playing God – and what’s wrong with that?
Posted on Tuesday February 02, 2016
British scientists are getting permission to alter embryos’ DNA. We have the chance to correct devastating diseases in the womb, so let’s get on with itThe announcement that scientists are...
Read the full article...Don’t fear the GM super-spud – we need it to feed mouths
Posted on Thursday March 26, 2015
Anti-GM activists will never accept anything ‘unnatural’, but the genetically modified potato being developed in Norwich could be of tremendous benefitThe last great famine in western Europe struck Ireland 170...
Read the full article...You’re powered by quantum mechanics. No, really…
Posted on Saturday October 25, 2014
For years biologists have been wary of applying the strange world of quantum mechanics, where particles can be in two places at once or connected over huge distances, to their...
Read the full article...Soon science could enable us all to run as fast as Usain Bolt
Posted on Thursday September 06, 2012
The implications of the new findings on the human genome could go well beyond merely fighting diseasesOne of the biggest scientific research projects in recent years has just unveiled its results....
Read the full article...Synthetic biology: the best hope for mankind's future?
Posted on Thursday March 29, 2012
If GM is agriculture's Ford Cortina, synthetic biology could give us Ferrari crops that feed the world without harming the planetThe UK government has just declared that synthetic biology –...
Read the full article...One Jesus for liberals, another for conservatives
Posted on Sunday March 04, 2012
New research shows how believers tailor Christian teachings to fit their own political viewpointLove thy neighbour, so long as he is not an illegal immigrant. Blessed are the poor, so...
Read the full article...Psychedelic drugs: more a case of 'turn off, tune in, drop out'
Posted on Monday February 06, 2012
Magic mushrooms work by shutting down parts of the brain, not expanding the mind, according to new researchSix thousand years ago palaeolithic hunters painted images on the walls of the...
Read the full article...The very human heroes of Fukushima
Posted on Thursday March 24, 2011
That plant workers are still risking their lives to help others seems to owe less to the selfish gene, more to ancestral cultureLike all disasters, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami...
Read the full article...ADHD's roots are complex
Posted on Thursday September 30, 2010
To claim attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is genetic is to dangerously simplify the nature of the conditionAttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is the bane of many parents, nurseries and schools. Children who suffer from the...
Read the full article...More of my articles can be found here on The Guardian.