Today we have Carl Zimmer on the podcast. Zimmer reports from the frontiers of biology, where scientists are expanding our understanding of life. Since 2004 he was written about science for the New York Times, where his column “Matter” has appeared weekly since 2013. Zimmer has won many awards for his work, including the Stephen Jay Gould Prize, awarded by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize individuals whose sustained efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science. Zimmer is the author of thirteen books about science. His latest book is She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Power, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The difference between genetics and heredity
• The perils and promises of gene-editing technologies
• The potential for unethical application of emerging genetics findings
• The potential for misuse of the genetics of intelligence in education
• The potential perils of genetically modified mosquitoes
• The potential perils of genetically modified crops
• The quirky nature of epigenetics
• The existence of “human chimeras”
• The limitations of DNA testing