John Travis

All Stories by John Travis

  1. Health & Medicine

    Fused cells hold promise of cancer vaccines

    A vaccine composed of tumor cells fused to immune cells has helped several people survive advanced kidney cancer.

  2. Two Meningitis Bacteria Yield Genomes

    Scientists have sequenced all the genes of two strains of a bacterium that causes meningitis, which may lead to the development of a much-needed vaccine

  3. Protein may help the eyes tell time

    A human version of melanopsin, originally found in the skin, eyes, and brains of frogs, has been discovered in the inner retina and may be the long-sought photoreceptor for the human biological clock.

  4. Nogo makes cord regrowth a no go

    Researchers have identified the gene for a protein that inhibits the regrowth of nerves in the spinal cord.

  5. Drugs order bacteria to commit suicide

    Seeking to explain how antibiotics work, scientists find a protein that commands bacteria to kill themselves.

  6. Humans

    Students shine in Science Talent Search

    The Intel Science Talent Search announces its 40 finalists

  7. Health & Medicine

    Firm nears completion of human genome

    Celera Genomics announced that it has sequenced 90 percent of the human genome and claimed it has found about 97 percent of all human genes.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Survivors’ Benefit?

    Smallpox outbreaks throughout history may have endowed some people with genetic mutations that make them resistant to the AIDS virus.

  9. Obesity hormone tackles wound healing

    The hormone leptin, which seems to have many roles in the body including regulating fat storage, may speed the healing of wounds.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Boning Up

    Biologists have discovered a mechanism for communication between two types of bone cell, and they're exploring the possible bone-growth-stimulating effect of popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

  11. For geneticists, interference becomes an asset

    A new method of disrupting genes, called RNA interference, works in mouse cells.

  12. Blood cues sex choice for parasites

    Malaria parasites shift their female-biased production of offspring toward a more evenly balanced sex ratio as an infection proceeds.