Joanna Thompson

Contributing Writer

Latest Articles

The Cause of Depression Is Probably Not What You Think

January 26, 2023

Depression has often been blamed on low levels of serotonin in the brain. That answer is insufficient, but alternatives are coming into view and changing our understanding of the disease.

The Gut Microbiome Helps Social Skills Develop in the Brain

November 15, 2022

New research in fish suggests that gut microbes can have a crucial early influence on the brain’s social development.

Biologists Use Genetic Circuits to Program Plant Roots

September 28, 2022

Using inserted genetic circuitry, synthetic biologists controlled the growth of plant roots for the first time.

Electric Fish Genomes Reveal How Evolution Repeats Itself

August 22, 2022

By studying how electric organs arose in different lineages of fish, scientists gain new insights into a long-standing question of evolutionary biology.

Hidden Chaos Found to Lurk in Ecosystems

July 27, 2022

New research finds that chaos plays a bigger role in population dynamics than decades of ecological data seemed to suggest.

Life Helps Make Almost Half of All Minerals on Earth

July 1, 2022

A new origins-based system for classifying minerals reveals the huge geochemical imprint that life has left on Earth. It could help us identify other worlds with life too.

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox