Made up of sections of DNA, genes control the life processes of organisms, according to Nobelprize.org In 2012, American biochemist Jennifer Doudna along with French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier developed “a methodology for high precision changes to genes. They used the immune defenses of bacteria, which disable viruses by cutting their DNA up with a type […]
In Tuscumbia, Alabama in 1880, a baby girl was born who would make a difference to millions. Her name was Helen Keller and she was no ordinary child; at 19 months old, she contracted a disease (possibly rubella or scarlet fever) that caused her to lose her sight and hearing. As a consequence, she also […]
It would be difficult to find an art aficionado who is not familiar with the influential Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610). Another talented individual, though, who is considered the one and only “Caravaggista” – the artist whose work stands out as equal in emotion, action and fervor to that of the renowned painter – was all […]
A leading foreign policy voice in the United States, Czech-born Madeleine Albright (1937-2022) was the first woman to serve as US secretary of state, remaining in that position from 1997 to 2001. Secretary of state is the most senior position in the American president’s cabinet and is fourth in the presidential line of succession, after […]
Marie Curie was a pioneer of modern science. Despite a career that was physically demanding and ultimately fatal, she discovered polonium and radium, championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed the understanding of radioactivity. Marie Curie was born Marie Skłodowska in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, to a family of teachers who believed […]
Most people, at least in the United States, have heard of Betsy Ross, the woman credited with making the first American flag, but who was Araminta Ross? Araminta Ross was a person of immense stature in a small body. Only about 5 feet tall (1.53 m), enslaved and illiterate, she dedicated her long life to […]
Olena Zelenska, a former architecture student who is a screenwriter by profession, is credited with initiating Ukraine’s accession to the G7 international initiative on gender equality – the Biarritz Partnership – in December 2019 during a speech at the third Ukrainian Women’s Congress (a permanent public platform that defines the gender policy agenda for the […]
Today, March 8th, we commemorate women heroes. There are too many to list, of course, but The Good Times will highlight a few inspirational women who have made a real difference or who have even altered the course of history. Over the next several weeks, we will draw special attention to the accomplishments of such […]
Dressed in a flannel skirt with trousers underneath, on July 22, 1871, British mountaineer Lucy Walker (1836-1916) reached the top of the Matterhorn (4,478 m/14,692 ft). She was the first woman to do so. Before that exploit, in 1870, Walker made the first female ascent of the Aiguille Verte (4,122 m/13,524 ft) in the Mont […]
Everyone who is interested in the environment – and many who are not – know who Dr. Jane Goodall is. Well into her 9th decade of life (she turns 87 this year) and best known for her in-depth and personal studies of chimpanzees, she is as involved in her activism for a sustainable planet as […]
