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Matthieu Groussin sits with three other people on stools in front of a low table, on which there are several bowls of food. Another person stands above Groussin spooning something into a bowl.
Q&A: Gathering Diverse Microbiome Samples
Cofounders of a microbiome biobank speak with The Scientist about their new partnership with nonprofit OpenBiome and how to ethically work with donors.
Q&A: Gathering Diverse Microbiome Samples
Q&A: Gathering Diverse Microbiome Samples

Cofounders of a microbiome biobank speak with The Scientist about their new partnership with nonprofit OpenBiome and how to ethically work with donors.

Cofounders of a microbiome biobank speak with The Scientist about their new partnership with nonprofit OpenBiome and how to ethically work with donors.

diversity

Illustration of the winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Biocompatible Reactions In Living Cells Garner Chemistry Nobel
Katherine Irving | Oct 5, 2022 | 4 min read
This year’s award recognizes Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for developing click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.
A building behind trees
Ford Foundation Sunsets Diversity Fellowships
Andy Carstens | Sep 27, 2022 | 6 min read
For more than 50 years, the program has served as a pipeline to get more scholars of color into academic institutions.
Human Data Era
The Human Data Era Q&A
The Scientist’s Creative Services Team and Amgen | 1 min read
In this webinar event, Vivienne Watson from Amgen will answer questions that delve deeper into the entire podcast series.
Illustration showing a puzzle piece of DNA being removed
Large Scientific Collaborations Aim to Complete Human Genome
Brianna Chrisman and Jordan Eizenga | Sep 1, 2022 | 10+ min read
Thirty years out from the start of the Human Genome Project, researchers have finally finished sequencing the full 3 billion bases of a person’s genetic code. But even a complete reference genome has its shortcomings.
Monica Bertagnolli standing in a hallway
White House Names Monica Bertagnolli as NCI Director
Andy Carstens | Aug 10, 2022 | 2 min read
The announcement confirms earlier reports that Bertagnolli will become the first woman to lead the National Cancer Institute since its founding in 1937.
Human Data Era
The Human Data Era - A Special 4-Part Podcast Series
The Scientist’s Creative Services Team and Amgen | 1 min read
Explore the potential of human data in drug research and development.
Outlines of people in multiple colors
HHMI to Award More than $1 Billion to Promote Equity in Research
Andy Carstens | May 26, 2022 | 2 min read
A new program will provide 150 early-career scientists committed to advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity up to $8.6 million each.
Abstract composition of design object with lines and spheres
Notable Science Quotes
The Scientist Staff | Mar 16, 2022 | 3 min read
Reviving the Cancer Moonshot, disentangling the microbiome's effect in cancer, the observer effect, and more
A photo of soybean pods
The Right Chemistry, 1935
Catherine Offord | Mar 1, 2022 | 3 min read
Percy Lavon Julian, a young, Black scientist working in Jim Crow America, gained international recognition after beating chemists at the University of Oxford in the race to synthesize the alkaloid physostigmine, used for decades as a treatment for glaucoma.
Office building near water with white roof
Q&A: A Randomized Approach to Awarding Grants
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Feb 25, 2022 | 6 min read
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk Foundation says it hopes that adding a randomization step to its award process will reduce implicit biases in selection and lead to funding more innovative, impactful research.
An outstretched hand holds a collection of prize medals in the sunlight
Analysis: Asian Researchers Scarce Among Biomedical Award Winners
Dan Robitzski | Feb 4, 2022 | 5 min read
Multiple prestigious US biomedical research awards have rarely or never been granted to a scientist with Asian ancestry, illustrating racial bias within American research societies and institutions, a researcher argues.
shrew
Researchers Identify 14 New Shrew Species 
Chloe Tenn | Jan 5, 2022 | 2 min read
The discovery, made on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, constitutes an exceptionally high number of new mammals to be described in a single paper.
group of people
HHMI Kickstarts $2 Billion Initiative to Boost Diversity in STEM
Chloe Tenn | Nov 23, 2021 | 7 min read
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute will invest the funds over 10 years across all stages of the STEM pipeline.
Colored Genetic Code DNA Molecule Structure stock photo
Genetic Risks for Depression Differ Between Ancestral Groups
Chloe Tenn | Oct 19, 2021 | 4 min read
A large genome-wide association study in East Asians uncovers novel genetic links to depression, calling attention to the consequences of underrepresentation of non-European groups in genetic research data.
A purple bulge of microbes on the bottom of a lake
Longer Days Led to Oxygen Buildup on Early Earth: Study
Amanda Heidt | Aug 3, 2021 | 4 min read
Researchers propose that some of the planet’s earliest photosynthesizers benefited from a slowing of the Earth’s rotation that allowed them to produce a surplus of oxygen and paved the way for more complex life.  
Illustration of cartoon headshots of people of diverse ethnicities
Survey Finds Lack of Diversity Among Journal Editors
Jef Akst | Jun 14, 2021 | 4 min read
Collecting data on the various races, sexual orientations, and gender identities of editors at 25 scientific and medical journals, researchers document the underrepresentation of minority groups.
A man in a wheelchair sits in a lab, with two scientists in the background
How STEM Can Be More Inclusive of Scientists with Disabilities
Amanda Heidt | Jun 7, 2021 | 4 min read
The culture of academia can make disabled scientists wary of disclosing their conditions or needs. Molecular biologist Justin Yerbury suggests how the system might become more inclusive. 
consensus genome human reference genome pangenome dna genetics diversity
A New Human Reference Genome Represents the Most Common Sequences
Ashleen Knutsen | Dec 23, 2020 | 4 min read
Researchers create a “consensus genome” that halves the number of errors when mapping transcripts, although they say the current standard is still a good tool.
2020 end of year roundup science news wildfire pandemic coronavirus covid-19 salivary glands tubarial mitochondria in blood neanderthal dna in african genome first blood test for alzheimer's inclusivity black in x stem
The Biggest Science News of 2020
Kerry Grens | Dec 23, 2020 | 6 min read
Neanderthal DNA surprises in modern humans, the first blood test for Alzheimer’s, a discovery of new human salivary glands, and, oh yeah, a pandemic
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