This illustration depicts a hypothetical situation in which disease-causing bacteria (with spiky green coats) could acquire resistance to the antibiotic penicillin by exchanging DNA (red helical ribbon) with harmless bacteria living in the human gut (blue rounded chains). Penicillin (white and green balls) would have no effect on microbes with the penicillin resistance gene (spiky blue coat).
Credit: Courtesy of A. Canossa, M. Sommer and G. Dantas
Even if science can’t make life longer, perhaps a pill can make a long life better
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With everyday materials, two research teams conceal ordinary objects
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Coverage of the 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting
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Three-part series on the scientific struggle to explain the conscious self
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By Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez
Review by Janet Raloff
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