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Rise of the Superbugs

By Mark Jerome Walters / On May 5th, 2014
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a sobering report on the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Two main messages are unmistakable: Antibiotic-resistant disease is no longer a threat looming in the future. The long-predicted threat has now arrived. Ecodemics like outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant disease are largely of our own making. We are not innocent bystanders. We are co-conspirators.
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Changing the World Gene by Gene

By Emily Monosson / On March 12th, 2014
Here’s the skinny: evolution is happening all the time, all around us. Living things are like one roiling mass of DNA. OK, so that’s a little over the top.
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#ForewordFriday: Plagues! Edition

By Jason Leppig / On February 21st, 2014
This Friday, check out this selection from Mark Jerome Walters' Seven Modern Plagues. Since Walters first drew attention to these “ecodemics” in 2003 with the publication of Six Modern Plagues, much has been learned about how they developed.
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From Food Deserts to Healthy Cities

By Admin / On May 11th, 2012
This generation of American children is predicted to live shorter lives than their parents–quite a shocking statistic. Even more shocking is that we know the reasons why and unlike epidemics of old they are within our control. At the root of the problem is obesity, inactivity, and unhealthful diets all centered around communities that don’t promote the kind of lifestyle that is necessary for prosperous, healthy lives.
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Assessing Emerging Challenges in U.S. Environmental Health

By Elizabeth Grossman / On August 11th, 2011
Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and epidemiologist, has spent her professional life trying to understand and alleviate threats from environmental sources, including the impact of chemical exposures on children. Her interest in the field dates back to her childhood in Galveston, Texas, where she grew up along the Gulf of Mexico surrounded by oil refineries and chemical plants that lit up the night sky with eerie blue, green, and orange hues.
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Hazards of the Harvest: Children in the Fields

By Elizabeth Grossman / On August 9th, 2011
While the rest of the country has been experiencing an epic heat wave, in the Pacific Northwest where I live, thus far the summer has been unusually cool. One consequence of the cool weather is a slow-to-appear local tomato crop, made evident to consumers by some remarkably high prices. A pint of organic cherry tomatoes at my neighborhood market recently jumped more than a dollar within a week to $4.99, prompting me to wonder precisely what goes into the price of tomatoes.

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