Karen Harrison

Karen Harrison has been a freelance writer for more than 20 years, covering topics in health, medicine, workplace and lifestyle topics. Based in the Philadelphia metro area, Harrison has worked extensively for mass media, government agencies, private business and special interest groups to create news and lifestyle content that engages and informs audiences.

Articles by Karen Harrison

• Military eyes ‘synthetic biology’ to track enemy movements

  Tuesday, December 18, 2018

  In an effort that sounds like it came straight from a science-fiction movie, the Department of Defense has announced it’s exploring the use of genetically altered marine life forms to track enemy subs. The effort is part of a $45 billion initiative begun in 2017 and dubbed the Applied Research for the Advancement of Science and Technology Priorities Program on Synthetic Biology for Military Environments. According to researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory, the program would use a relatively common type of sea life, altering its genetic makeup to make it "extra sensitive" to markers left by passing subs.

• Studies show obesity is a major concern for active-duty military and veterans

  Tuesday, December 11, 2018

  Losing weight is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions, and according to new data, if you’re a veteran, the need to drop those extra pounds has never been more acute. A new survey conducted by Westat on behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project polled more than 33,000 post-9/11 veterans and service members, and found that, alarmingly, more than half of all survey respondents were obese, based on their body mass index measurements. Of those, about 7 percent were morbidly obese. What’s more, the number of obese service members increased by more than 3 percent since a 2014 survey, the report found.