Science
Why did 5 leukemia patients die in 2016 CAR-T trial?
More than a year after five leukemia patients died from an experimental treatment involving genetically engineered immune cells, its developer ...
How choosing genetically similar partners shapes our genomes
Chances are, you’re going to marry someone a lot like you. Similar intelligence, similar height, similar body weight. A new ...
Checkpoint inhibitors fight cancer–but can have nasty side effects
Yale University immunologist Kevan Herold spoke about a few of his newest diabetes patients to an unlikely audience: oncologists and ...
Dog genome project: How your breed originated
From the 80-kilogram Great Dane to the 1-kilogram tiny teacup poodle, there seems to be a dog for everyone. Now, ...
Cost effective? What DNA screening might catch that we are not likely to find
Known broadly as the MyCode Community Health Initiative and run by the Danville-based Geisinger Health System, the effort has so ...
Ancient incompatibility: Why human females and Neanderthal males had difficulty conceiving
After years of sequencing the genomes of female Neandertals, researchers have finally got their first good look at the Y ...
Neanderthal-human mating reintroduced lost African genes, for better and worse
When Neandertals mated with modern humans, they shared more than an intimate moment and their own DNA. They also gave ...
Ancient ‘Tianyuan man’ is full-fledged Homo sapiens
When scientists excavated a 40,000-year-old skeleton in China in 2003, they thought they had discovered the offspring of a Neandertal and ...
What do your Neanderthal genes do?
By sequencing a remarkably complete genome from a 50,000-year-old bone fragment of a female Neandertal found in Vindija Cave in ...
Video: Evolution at work–RNA in New York City mice has changed so they can eat fast food
With all its hustle, bustle, concrete, and congestion, they say New York City changes people. And that may be true, ...
Antibiotic use on farms could be cut by up to 80 percent globally, study finds
Almost 80% of all antibiotics in the United States aren’t taken by people. They’re given to cows, pigs, and chickens ...
Why New Guinea islanders are among the most genetically diverse people in the world
If you travel the meandering Sepik River of New Guinea, it quickly becomes apparent that from one bend to the ...
Multiple sclerosis added to list of diseases exacerbated by gut microbes
The trillions of bacteria that live in our intestines, known collectively as the gut microbiome, have been linked to maladies ...
Activist witch hunt? PETA targets Yale postdoc researcher known for progressive research on bird stress
It started in May with a web post by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “Tell Yale University to Stop ...
Drug that reverses diabetes and obesity in mice may strengthen brittle bones
A drug that can reverse diabetes and obesity in mice may have an unexpected benefit: strengthening bones. Experiments with a ...
‘Breakthrough’ treatment for PTSD? FDA approves ecstasy drug trial
One of the main targets in the war on drugs could well become a drug to treat the scars of ...
Heart attack risk could be significantly reduced with simple anti-inflammatory medication
A clinical trial of more than 10,000 heart attack patients supports a novel way to protect them from a stroke ...
Americans shedding their skepticism of human genome editing
Earlier surveys of Americans (here and here) have found a reluctance to support human genome editing...But the new survey, conducted by social ...
Could vitamin B3 supplements prevent birth defects?
An extra dose of vitamin B3 might help prevent certain kinds of complex birth defects, according to a new study ...
End of allergies? Researchers identify cells that trigger reactions
Allergies stem from mistaken identity, when some of our immune cells respond to benign substances—known as allergens—that include pollen, mold ...
Plant breeders call for sharing university seed patents to spur crop research, innovation
Universities need to get better at sharing patented seeds and other products of publicly-funded agricultural science if the United States ...
Antisocial bees could aid the study of autism in humans
A new study reveals that [antisocial bees] share a genetic profile with people who have autism spectrum disorders, which can ...
Zika tragedy reanimates ethical and medical debate about vaccines for pregnant women
Ever since the shocking realization in 1961 that the morning sickness pill thalidomide caused shortened limbs in babies, doctors have ...
Who invented CRISPR gene editing: Broad Institute v University of California patent battle intensifies
The University of California (UC) has fired another legal salvo in the prolonged patent battle over CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing ...
Chemist Derek Lowe: Panera Bread spreads misinformation on chemicals and food—yet again
[Editor's note: Derek Lowe is a Duke University-trained organic chemist.] [S]everal people alerted me to one of the latest ads ...
Dog-human bonding: Genetic mutations for Williams syndrome may explain canine friendliness
Using clues from humans with a genetic disorder that makes them unusually friendly, [researchers Monique Udell and Bridgett vonHoldt] found ...
Surviving the cure: Stem cell transplant that saved a patient’s life now poses mortal threat
A few months before completing medical school in 2003, Lukas Wartman was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a blood ...
Ray of life: Did sunlight kickstart Earth’s biological transformation?
A new study suggests that the iron-and-sulfur clusters at the heart of many life-critical enzymes could have been floating around ...
