All Stories by John Travis
- Health & Medicine
Slow brain repair seen in Huntington’s
In people with Huntington's disease, the brain tries to replace dying nerve cells.
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Scanning a brain that’s out of tune
Scientists have scanned the brain of a man who had great difficulty playing a tune and showed that his brain doesn't react normally to music.
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Mutant mice resist morphine’s appeal
A protein on nerve cells appears to be the key to developing morphine addiction.
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The Brain’s Funny Bone: Seinfeld, The Simpsons spark same nerve circuits
Brain scans of people watching sitcoms show that different brain regions spark with activity when a person initially gets a joke versus when he or she subsequently responds to its humor.
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Sizing Up the Brain
Genetic mutations that produce small brains provide insight into the formation and evolution of the human brain.
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Outmuscled: Muscles, not nerve cells, fail in old worms
In aging worms, the nervous system stays intact but muscles don't.
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Long live the Y?
Researchers have identified a means by which the Y chromosome may forestall, or at least delay, the gradual degradation that some biologists argue will ultimately delete it from the human genome.
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Bacterial diet quiets worm genes
Genetically engineered bacteria help biologists turn off worm genes.
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Sea squirt’s DNA makes a splash
The DNA sequence of a sea squirt may reveal the origins of vertebrates.
- Plants
Drought-tolerant plant mined for survival genes
A drought-resistant South African plant is revealing its genetic secrets.
- Humans
Nobel prizes honor innovative approaches
The 2002 Nobel prizes pay tribute to an international sampling of scientists who developed powerful new techniques for expanding the horizons of research.
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Milestones for Malaria: Parasite, mosquito genes decoded
Unraveling the DNA of a malaria-causing parasite and of a mosquito that carries it may suggest new ways to combat the deadly disease.
