Category Archive for "News & Archives"

Brain-eating amoebas are spreading—and that’s just as bad as it sounds

Here's everything you never wanted to know about the subject. Nothing strikes fear and paranoia into the public’s heart like the phrase “brain-eating amoeba.” Those ominous words dominated headlines this weekend as news spread ofa 29-year-old man who contracted the disease and died after visiting a surf park in Waco, Texas. Fabrizio Stabile began feeling unwell…

Wild chimpanzees share food with their friends

Sharing meat after hunting and exchanging other valued food items is considered key in the evolution of cooperation in human societies. One prominent idea is that humans share valuable foods to gain future favors, such that those we chose to share with are more likely to cooperate with us in the future. Despite regularly occurring…

Guided by CRISPR, prenatal gene editing shows proof-of-concept in treating disease before birth

For the first time, scientists have performed prenatal gene editing to prevent a lethal metabolic disorder in laboratory animals, offering the potential to treat human congenital diseases before birth. Published today in Nature Medicine, research from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania offers proof-of-concept for…

Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040

A landmark report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change paints a far more dire picture of the immediate consequences of climate change than previously thought and says that avoiding the damage requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has “no documented historic precedent.” The report, issued on Monday…

Japan set to allow gene editing in human embryos

Japan has issued draft guidelines that allow the use of gene-editing tools in human embryos. The proposal was released by an expert panel representing the country’s health and science ministries on 28 September. Although the country regulates the use of human embryos for research, there have been no specific guidelines on using tools such as…

Viruses influenced gene sharing between Neanderthals and humans

Human evolution used to be depicted as a straight line, gradually progressing from an ape-like ancestor to modern Homo sapiens. But thanks to next-generation sequencing -- as well as the discovery of genetic material from extinct subspecies of early humans -- findings in recent years have shown that it wasn't quite so orderly. The human…

New DNA tool predicts height, shows promise for serious illness assessment

A new DNA tool created by Michigan State University can accurately predict people's height, and more importantly, could potentially assess their risk for serious illnesses, such as heart disease and cancer. For the first time, the tool, or algorithm, builds predictors for human traits such as height, bone density and even the level of education…

Chemistry Nobel: Harnessing Power of Evolution

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 with one half to Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA "for the directed evolution of enzymes" and the other half jointly to George P. Smith, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA and Sir Gregory P. Winter, MRC…

‘Environmentally, we’re in trouble:’ A cry for help for Miami’s coral reefs and mangroves

Mira Lehr’s Tracing the Red Thread is arguably one of the most beautiful cries for help. The exhibition, at The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, is a call to arms. “We’re in trouble,” says the Miami artist. “Environmentally, we’re in trouble.” A disciple of futurist Buckminster Fuller, Lehr has long held that mankind can — and…

T. rex evolved into a monster predator by dumbing down its brain

Tyrannosaurus rex has a reputation for being one of the biggest and fiercest dinosaurs ever to have lived. But it probably wasn’t the brightest: it had a simpler brain than an earlier, smaller tyrannosaur. The change could be a consequence of growing so large. Fossils suggest that T. rex could reach 12 metres in length and between 8…

Category Archives: News & Archives