Science
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 ...
Reversing traumatic brain injury: Memory-enhancing drug might help
[T]raumatic brain injury can be permanent. There are no drugs to reverse the cognitive decline and memory loss, and any ...
1 in 5 healthy adults may carry rare genetic disease mutations
A new pair of studies is the first ever randomized clinical trials evaluating whole genome sequencing in healthy people. They ...
Open-source seeds: Breeders release tomato, wheat strains that aren’t allowed to be patented
There's open-source software, open-source pharma research, and open-source beer. Now, there are open-source seeds, too. Breeders from Göttingen University in ...
Why the fetus — a ‘foreign body’ — does not attack its mother
The immune system of a fetus developing in the womb faces a quandary: It has to prepare itself to attack ...
Which patients to choose for experimental CAR-T cancer therapy?
A transformative cancer therapy based on modified immune cells has lured doctors, companies, and patients alike, but many are hitting ...
Some things to consider—including legal issues—before reviving extinct animals
The concept of de-extinction, aimed at restoration of extinct species, is controversial.... The three technical pathways for de-extinct animal species ...
Recording bees’ buzzing could help farmers identify, count beneficial pollinators
Like jets radioing in their call signs to air traffic control, bees’ buzzing could help scientists know who’s pollinating what ...
Does water have a flavor? Your tongue may think so
Viewed under a microscope, your tongue is an alien landscape, studded by fringed and bumpy buds that sense five basic ...
DNA from mummies show ancient Egyptians had almost no sub-Saharan African genes
After trying repeatedly to extract it, many scientists were convinced that the hot desert climate and, perhaps, the chemicals used ...
Innocent victims: The GMO ‘petunia carnage’ of 2017
[In 2015], plant biologist Teemu Teeri was walking by a train station in Helsinki when he noticed some vivid orange petunias ...
New GE rice variety boosts plant’s immune system to fight multiple diseases at once
Plants don’t have a bloodstream to circulate immune cells. Instead, they use receptors on the outsides of their cells to ...
Video: Micro-bubbles and stem cell gene therapy heal bone fractures in pigs
It takes more than a cast and a little time to heal many broken bones....Now, researchers have combined ultrasound, stem ...
Mimicking gene changes in mutant cherry tomatoes can nearly double production
Plant geneticists have figured out how to almost double the production of garden tomatoes. Though most of us care mainly ...
US flower sellers forced to destroy 9 varieties of petunias after tests show they’re genetically modified
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced [May 16] that U.S. flower distributors have begun to destroy countless petunia plants ...
Humans move around and fool around: There’s no such thing as a ‘pure’ country or civilization
When the first busloads of migrants from Syria and Iraq rolled into Germany 2 years ago, some small towns were ...
Not Ebola: Mystery Liberian disease identified as virulent meningitis, but no vaccine in sight
When several people died suddenly late last month in Liberia after attending a funeral in the southern county of Sinoe, ...
Anti-GMO activist attacks Monsanto research center in Italy with ‘bottle bombs’
[I]n the middle of Easter night in Olmeneta, Italy, an unknown person attacked the Monsanto Research Center with several “bottle ...
Personalized skin cancer vaccine shows promise
For half a century, researchers have dreamed of giving cancer patients a vaccine that helps the immune system detect the ...
Will China relax GMO cultivation restrictions in wake of Syngenta takeover?
Although China imports preapproved GM foods, the agriculture ministry has never approved a biotech food crop—other than papaya, a minor ...
Ancient skeleton offers proof of deep roots of Pacific Northwest tribes
The Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest have always claimed to have deep roots in the region. Now, an ancient ...
