Eric Johnson

Supreme Court denies gene patents--or does it?

ksj.mit.edu — The Supreme Court's decision to deny patents on genes but allow patents on synthetic genes was perhaps not as clever as many commentators seemed to think. On the surface, it makes sense: Patents shouldn't be awarded to genes any more than they should be awarded to a block of wood.

Changing Perspectives Propel Chimp Protections

nytimes.com — More than 50 years ago, Jane Goodall, then a young researcher at what would become the Gombe National Park in Tanzania, began introducing the public to the "fantastic beings" she had studied and lived with.

On PRISM, partisanship and propaganda

guardian.co.uk — I haven't been able to write this week here because I've been participating in the debate over the fallout from last week's NSA stories, and because we are very busy working on and writing the next series of stories that will begin appearing very shortly.

Ancient Siberians may have rarely hunted mammoths

sciencenews.org — Ancient Siberians may have rarely hunted mammoths Study suggests Stone Age folk sporadically killed the beasts, primarily for ivory Contrary to their hunting reputation, Stone Age Siberians killed mammoths only every few years when they needed tusks for toolmaking, a new study finds.

Evidence from the Yana Palaeolithic site, Arctic Siberia, yields clues to the riddle of mammoth hunting

sciencedirect.com — JavaScript is disabled on your browser. Please enable JavaScript to use all the features on this page. aGeological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevsky pereulok 7, Moscow 119017, Russia bInstitute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, 18 Dvortsovaya nab., St.

Antonin Scalia Does Not Believe in Molecular Biology

gawker.com — Justice Antonin Scalia agrees with his fellow Supreme Court justices that naturally occurring genes can't be patented. Where he appears to differ: The existence of genes, the basic science of genetics, molecular biology, and evolution. He just dissented from all of the above.

Why Peter King's comments on Greenwald threaten the republic

washingtonpost.com — Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) made waves yesterday on a Fox News interview in which he called for "legal action" to be taken against Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald. The congressman's comments were delivered in his usual stentorian style, with absolute certainty and conviction, even though they appear to lack any factual basis.