by James Morris
At a time of increasing political division, it’s worth asking ourselves – can we put ourselves in someone else’s shoes? Continue reading
Others’ Shoes
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Tag Archives: Genetics
Genes, Genomes, and Genies
by James Morris
Illustration by Talia Niederman
We are all, in a way, familiar with genetics. We know that children resemble their parents. We know that there are sometimes uncanny similarities among distant family members. And not a day goes by without some mention of genetics in the news – a gene is implicated in a disease; DNA testing is used to solve a crime; another genome is sequenced.
Yet we might struggle with certain details. What is a genome and why do we care about its sequence? What are genes and how do they relate to traits we see all around us? Why do some traits get passed on – brown eyes, red hair, high blood pressure – but not always, and sometimes in seemingly random ways?
We Are Family
by James Morris
In light of recent events, I think it’s important to remind ourselves how similar we are to each other, not how different.
Exceptionalism
by James Morris
For Ting Wu, who introduced me to fruit flies and taught me to pay careful attention to exceptions.
There is a well-known saying in genetics: “Treasure your exceptions.” What this means is that we should really take time and learn as much as we can from things that are different, that don’t fit the mold. Continue reading