All Stories by John Travis
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Placental Puzzle
Do captured viral genes make human pregnancies possible?
- Plants
New gene-altering strategy tested on corn
Scientists have created herbicide-resistant corn with a new kind of genetic engineering that involves subtly altering one of the plant's own genes rather than adding a new gene.
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Genes, genes, and more genes
Scientists have almost finished sequencing the genes of rice and of a man.
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Disabled genes dull sense of smell
Mutated genes may explain why humans have a poor sense of smell.
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Cloning extends life of cells—and cows?
A study of cloned cows provides reassurance that cloned animals won't die prematurely and may even live extra-long.
- Health & Medicine
Loosen Up
Bacterial toxin may lead to less painful treatments for diabetes and brain cancer.
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Nerve connections come ready to assemble
Nerve cells seem to package key components of synapses—the specialized complexes than connect the nerve cells—and collectively ship the material to points where these complexes take shape.
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Trashed proteins may help immune system
Up to 30 percent of a cell's proteins get recycled as soon as they roll off the cellular assembly line.
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Cloned pigs, down on the corporate farm
A biotech company announced the first cloning of pigs.
- Humans
Message in DNA tops Science Talent Search
A project on encrypting words within a strand of DNA won the top prize at the Intel Science Talent Search.
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Wash that mouth out with bacteria!
Genetically engineered bacteria may stop tooth decay by replacing the ones in the mouth that destroy tooth enamel.
- Health & Medicine
HIV sexual spread exploits immune sentinels
The virus that causes AIDS latches onto a protein called DC-SIGN to hitch a ride on immune cells in mucus membranes and spread through the body.
