Wired
A new kind of sex? Strange micro-organism makes imperfect clones of itself
Oxytricha trifallax lives in ponds all over the world. Under an electron microscope it looks like a football adorned with tassels ...
Can ‘Big Data’ help sidestep the controversy over GMOs and the future of food
Inside a squat building on San Francisco’s 10th Street, packed into a space that looks a lot like a high ...
IBM chip mimics brain, marks advancement in artificial intelligence
The human brain is the world's most sophisticated computer capable of learning new things on the fly, using very little ...
Predicting behavior based on our genes just got more complicated
How can we predict organisms behavior and physiology from their genomes? The language of DNA was always thought to be ...
Pre-natal neuron disorganization may cause autism
Nobody knows what causes autism, a condition that varies so widely in severity that some people on the spectrum achieve ...
DNA and the masses: Genetics as identity
You can have your DNA sequenced faster, easier and more completely than ever before. ln light of these advances, it's ...
Memory — not perception — might be key to dyslexia
If auditory processing is at the core of the frustrating disorder dyslexia, then dyslexic musicians shouldn't exist. But they do ...
New bionic hand includes a sense of touch
Sensory feedback is what will turn future prostheses from tools into hands; a breakthrough bionic hand represents a first step ...
Computational drug discovery technique targets microRNAs using genome sequencing
A team of chemists has developed a new computational drug discovery technique that targets microRNAs using genome sequencing. To demonstrate ...
Overclocking your brain? Be careful
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) head-sets send electrical currents straight through your skull and into your brain, but do they ...
Monsanto’s kitchen: All the advantages of genetic modification without the Frankenfood ick factor
The company whose name is synonymous with Big Ag has revolutionized the way we grow food—for better or worse. Now, ...
New age of genetic testing advances, despite FDA’s dust-up with 23andMe
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month ordered startup 23andMe to stop marketing its $99 genetic analysis kit, ...
Did brain mirror neurons help shape our civilization?
A new study debunks the hype surrounding mirror neurons and surveys current literature to take a calm and objective look ...
Craig Venter’s vision of the age of human-controlled evolution
J Craig Venter has been a molecular-biology pioneer for two decades. After developing expressed sequence tags in the 90s, he ...
Spain to fast track citizenship for Jews of Spanish descent. Who qualifies?
Last year, Spain announced that it would provide a fast track to citizenship for Sephardic Jews—Jews of Spanish descent (the Jews of Spain were ...
Bacteria with spider genes spin out silk
In addition to snaring dinner and protecting spider babies, spider silk makes a pretty good shield for bioreactive enzymes. Even ...
The fall and rise of gene therapy
Rarely does a whole life’s work crumble in a single week, but James Wilson’s did. Wilson and his colleagues were ...
Cloud-based genomics: Will the Internet create GM super-oranges?
Farmers are hacking their operations with robots, sensors, drones, and good-old circuit boards, but that’s merely a first step. Thanks ...
Literal gene-ius: The search for a genetic basis of intelligence
Barely out of his teens, Chinese prodigy Zhao Bowen is leading a multimillion-dollar research effort to solve a genetic mystery: ...
What makes some people so smart?
After being identified early as a science prodigy, Zhao Bowen raced through China’s special programs for gifted students and won ...
700,000-year-old horse genome shatters record for sequencing of ancient DNA
The following is an excerpt. By piecing together the genetic information locked inside a frozen, fossilized bone, scientists have deciphered ...
Two genetic code tweaks 500 million years ago caused evolutionary jump
The following is an excerpt. Modern day reproductive systems are the result of changes in two letters of genetic code ...
Genetically modified silkworms spin fluorescent silk
The following is an edited excerpt. Silkworms in a Japanese lab are busy spinning silks that glow in the dark ...
Synthetic blood may introduce a host of complications
The pending arrival of synthetic blood is likely to come with some serious socioeconomic and ethical issues ...
Building a future with synthetic biology
The following is an edited excerpt. The potential magnitude of human intervention is greater today than ever before. Before the ...
Gene patents are sabotaging the future of medicine
The following is an excerpt. The business of DNA is undergoing a revolution. We can already get our genes scanned for ...
Sequencing finds antibiotic resistance in bacteria moving from livestock to humans
Scientists use genetics to uncover the "smoking gun" in the crossing-over of antibiotic resistance from livestock to human ...
Get ready for a genetics-based marketplace
A new platform will help consumers control what offers they get from retailers based on their genetic makeup ...
