All Stories by John Travis
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Malaria parasite reveals old age
The DNA of a malaria-causing parasite suggests it is at least 100,000 years old.
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Biological clock study challenged
A report disputes the controversial notion that bright light applied to skin can reset a person's biological clock.
- Health & Medicine
Worm genes take on bacterial foes
Creatures as simple as worms have an effective immune defense.
- Health & Medicine
Fullness Factor: Gut hormone tells brain the stomach is well fed
A hormone produced by the intestines could be the primary satiety signal sent to the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Lab tool may spawn new antiviral drugs
Short strands of RNA can be used to stop viruses such as HIV.
- Health & Medicine
Fat Chance: Cancer drugs may also thwart obesity
Drugs now undergoing testing as a cancer therapy because they thwart new blood vessel growth may also be a treatment for obesity.
- Health & Medicine
Viral Survivor
Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of diseases ranging from mononucleosis to several kinds of cancer, has begun to reveal how it enters human cells and protects itself from the immune system.
- Health & Medicine
Disabled Defense: HIV protein counters immune-cell gene
Immune cells contain a protein that can inhibit HIV replication if the AIDS virus lacks a key protein.
- Health & Medicine
Melanoma gene quickly reeled in
Biologists have discovered a gene that may contribute to many cases of deadly skin cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Do-It-Yourself: Virus recreated from synthetic DNA
In an experiment with implications for bioterrorism, scientists have used poliovirus' widely known genetic sequence to synthesize that virus from DNA and other chemicals.
- Health & Medicine
Dynamite discovery on nitroglycerin
Scientists have found a long-sought enzyme that may be behind nitroglycerin's dilation of blood vessels.
- Health & Medicine
Kill or Be Killed: Tumor protein offs patrolling immune cells
Many human cancers may evade surveillance by exploiting a protein normally found on certain immune cells.
