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4 days ago | 
theguardian.com | Ian Sample |Rachel Porter |Joel Cox |Ellie Bury
Ian Sample meets Jaap de Roode, professor of biology at Emory University in Atlanta, and author of the book Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes and Other Animals Heal Themselves. De Roode explains how a chance discovery got him interested in animal medicine, the amazing ways that creatures use toxins to fight parasites and pathogens, and what humans have learnt about medicine from the animal world
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Samira Shackle |Nicola Alexandrou |Ellie Bury
Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take action
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Madeleine Finlay |Ian Sample |Tony Onuchukwu |Ellie Bury
Doctors in the US have become the first to treat a baby with a customised gene-editing therapy after diagnosing the child with a severe genetic disorder that kills about half of those affected in early infancy. Ian Sample explains to Madeleine Finlay how this new therapy works and how it paves the way for even more complex gene editing techniques.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Sophie Elmhirst |Andrew McGregor |Hattie Moir |Nicola Alexandrou |Ellie Bury
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat business?
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Madeleine Finlay |Leyland Cecco |Joel Cox |Ellie Bury
In March 2021, the Toronto-based reporter Leyland Cecco heard about a memo sent by New Brunswick health officials that warned about a possible unknown neurological syndrome thought to be affecting about 40 people. Since then the story has taken many twists and turns, most recently with a peer-reviewed study that concludes there is no mystery illness after all.
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3 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Shaun Walker |Nicola Alexandrou |Ellie Bury
Read the text version here Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpod Adapted from The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West by Shaun Walker, published on 17 April (Profile Books, £22; Knopf in the US). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply. Russia’s spies: Uncovering Russia’s secret espionage programmes.
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3 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Ian Sample |Damian Carrington |Tony Onuchukwu |Ellie Bury
Geoengineering, the controversial set of techniques that aim to deliberately alter the Earth’s climate system, may be inching a step closer to reality with the announcement that UK scientists will be conducting real-world experiments in the coming years. To understand what’s happening, Ian Sample is joined by the Guardian environment editor Damian Carrington. Damian explains what the experiments will entail and why scientists are so divided on whether pursuing this research is a good idea
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3 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Scott Sayare |Esther Opoku-Gyeni |Nicola Alexandrou |Ellie Bury
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: An intrepid expert with dozens of books to his name, Stéphane Bourgoin was a bestselling author, famous in France for having interviewed more than 70 notorious murderers. Then an anonymous collective began to investigate his pastBy Scott Sayare. Read by Simon Vance
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3 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Ian Sample |Eli Block |Joshan Chana |Joel Cox |Ellie Bury
For a long time the appendix was considered disposable. After all, millions of people have theirs removed each year and go on to live healthy lives. But as Heather F Smith, a professor of anatomy at Midwestern University tells Ian Sample, researchers are increasingly understanding what this small worm-shaped organ may be bringing to the table in terms of our health.
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4 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Giles Tremlett |Joshan Chana |Ellie Bury
Read the text version here Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpod In the UK, and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.
