England’s King George III descended into mental chaos, or what at the time was called madness, in 1789. Physicians could not say whether he would recover or if a replacement should assume the throne.

Luckily, acclaimed science writer Carl Zimmer is here to unravel the tangled history of the science and pseudoscience surrounding heredity, in all its many forms. In his expansive, engrossing, and ...

Someone asked “What is a genetics fact that not a lot of people know?” and people detailed their best bits of info.

The Elephant Man, novelist Pearl S. Buck and Phoebus, god of the sun, all find their way into science writer Carl Zimmer’s latest book. In She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, Zimmer uses famous moments in ...

Humans have a positive view of nature. But is this due to an approach we have learned while growing up, or is it something we are born with? The answer is 'Both', according to researchers. Humans have ...

It is a common belief that mental illness runs in families. While it is true that heredity plays a role, in reality, the vast majority of cases—such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and ...

She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity Carl Zimmer Dutton (2018) Few subjects have afforded more room for doubt, or caused more harm through false certainty, ...

Family photos from Kaleucagys, Kekova, Turkey. Photo by Anton Watman, via Shutterstock. Have you ever taken a peek at your family tree? If you trace back along those branches, you might discover some ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The church publishes the ...

This Special Issue celebrates Mendel’s 200th birthday by focusing on exceptions to the Mendelian ‘laws’. Discovery in science is often driven forward more by exceptions than by rules. In genetics, ...