John Travis

All Stories by John Travis

  1. Nerve cells ring in the Winter Olympics

    Scientists in Utah have sculpted living nerve cells into a microscopic version of the interlocking rings that symbolize the Olympic games.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Cancer clue: RNA-destroying enzyme may thwart prostate-tumor growth

    Scientists have found a mutated gene that predisposes men of some families to prostate cancer.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Gene Variant Tied to Human Aging

    Variants of a gene linked to mouse aging are more prevalent in elderly people than in newborns, suggesting that the gene influences human aging or specific age-related illnesses.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Cloning’s ups and downs

    Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal, has developed arthritis, and two biotech firms have turned to cloning in their attempt to create pigs with organs that human bodies won't reject when transplanted.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Cancer fighter reveals a dark side

    Overactivity of a tumor-suppressing gene shortens the lifespan of mice.

  6. Biological Dark Matter

    The discovery that some genes encode RNA strands instead of proteins has surprised biologists.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Viruses stop antibiotic-resistant bacteria

    Bacteriophages, viruses that destroy bacteria, can protect mice from bacteria that are impervious to antibiotics.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Mice reveal the off switch for inflammation

    Working with genetically engineered mice, scientists have identified a crucial natural mechanism that rodents use to shut down inflammation before it does harm.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Boost in protein repair extends fly lives

    In warmer-than-normal conditions, fruit flies that overproduce a protein-repair enzyme live about one-third longer than typical flies.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Thinking the way to stronger muscles

    Thinking about exercising a muscle can make it stronger.

  11. Health & Medicine

    New epilepsy drug is possible

    A drug mimicking a natural substance in the brain may offer a new therapy for epilepsy.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Antibiotic now tackles Parkinson’s

    A well-known antibiotic may slow the brain-cell death that causes Parkinson's disease.