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Despite all of the scientific advances in genomic sequencing, genetic testing, and gene editing, science writer Carl Zimmer suggests we lack a rich understanding of what heredity means and how traits travel from one generation to the next. Cultural and environmental conditions have complex and nuanced influences on human biology, personal and family characteristics are not embedded exclusively in our ancestral DNA, cells within our own body birth new cells, and an infant’s DNA endures for years in a mother’s bloodstream. All of that, and much more, play significant roles in the legacies we inherit and pass on.
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Society
In a time of heightened distrust, how can media outlets reclaim the public’s confidence? We hear from a longtime journalist.
The idea of unity is a compassionate, hopeful aspiration for a country ravaged by a global pandemic, racial injustice, economic downturn and mob violence.
This week marks one year since the first known COVID-19 death. And while the remarkable pace of vaccine development is widely praised, the lag in its distribution is concernin...
Peggy Clark asks Dan Glickman to reflect on this past year and to share what he expects from our country under President-elect Joe Biden’s leadership.
“We are not in a rush to pull people back into the workplace,” says Rob Falzon
On November 9, 2020, as coronavirus cases surge, President-elect Joe Biden named a COVID-19 Advisory Council. Aspen Ideas has been honored to host several of the council membe...
Not by shying away from arguments but by embracing them. Arguments are our legacy and our shared history.
Two pro athletes talk about the perils of speaking up for justice in 2020, and what it would take to see progress and create measurable societal change.
The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims t...
