A few months ago, a fellow skeptic told me he was considering personalized genetic testing and wondered what my opinion was on the service. The idea is that any consumer who desires can send a DNA sample to a company, like 23andMe, and get a report back on various genetic risk factors. Sounds like a … Continue reading
Tag Archives: genetics
Within Reason Episode 206 – (Bad) Science
Originally posted on Moutons No More:
Jonathan Jarry hosts another edition of Within Reason, the podcast that looks at contentious issues from a rational perspective. This month, is scientific research inefficient or have we grossly oversimplified the situation? We begin with a mad comedic dash through the life of a young scientist to the sound of…
Listen: First Nations “Medicine” on White Coat, Black Art
@NightShiftMD, Dr. Brian Goldman, tackled the issue of First Nations’ right to choose traditional treatments for themselves and their children with, I believe, the correct balance between respect and the need to ask tough questions. You can hear his conversations on the subject in the latest episode of CBC’s White Coat, Black Art. We are … Continue reading
Cracked Science Video 2: Code
A follow-up to my first video, this is a quick-and-dirty look at how the DNA code gets translated to make proteins. Enjoy! Il y a des sous-titres en français disponibles en cliquant sur le bouton “CC” sur YouTube. Continue reading
Cracked Science Video 1: Dogma
It has begun. I am starting a series of public science videos in which I will be explaining scientific concepts, criticizing bad science, and debunking pseudoscience. You can think of it as a video version of this blog. Before you watch the first video, a few caveats born of my self-awareness and perfectionism: 1. I … Continue reading
Darwin Day: What It Means to Be a Scientist
Bill Nye used mathematics to disprove creationism. It was only one tool in a rather large box, a box that might as well be bigger on the inside. The bow-tied man did a rapid calculation to help show the incredulity that should follow the claim that evolution is wrong and that the Bible got it … Continue reading
Jargon: Exome (All of the DNA that makes it into mature RNA)
Exome: the part of the DNA that is transcribed into RNA and that remains after the RNA molecule undergoes liposuction. Well, not actual liposuction. DNA is like a book of blueprints, each blueprint being a gene; RNA represents a photocopy of a particular blueprint. The analogy, while useful, breaks down in the following way: the … Continue reading
Unveiling Culprits, Part 1: The Immunological Morpheus
As medical research pushes back the veil on the causes of certain well-known diseases, we are sometimes surprised at the unlikely culprits. It sounds obvious today, for instance, that cigarette smoking can cause lung cancer: one can easily picture the smoke snaking down to the lungs and leaving a nasty deposit. Sometimes, however, the connection … Continue reading
Disordered Diseases of Ill Infections: Demystifying Medical Definitions
Is Alzheimer disease an illness or a syndrome? Can a flu be referred to as a disorder? There is an abundance of medical terms to describe illness: while some overlap, others exist for a reason. Our first semantic stop is the word injury, which is quite distinct from the rest of the medical grab-bag. An … Continue reading
Anti-Oxidants, Miracle Diets, and the Magic of Yoga: How to Be Fit and Healthy According to Science
As you may or may not know, I host a monthly podcast, Within Reason, with a fellow Montreal-based skeptic, Andrew Cody. This month, on Within Reason, your monthly rational podcast on contentious issues, we tackle the pernicious myths surrounding the fitness industry. Can you lose weight permanently? Do you deserve an after-run muffin and latte? … Continue reading
Cracked Science 
You must be logged in to post a comment.