John Travis

All Stories by John Travis

  1. Health & Medicine

    Drug fails in autism study

    In the most extensive test so far of its capability to treat autism, the controversial drug secretin has failed to help children with the neurological disorder.

  2. Insect receptor for sweat creates buzz

    A sweat-sensing cell-surface protein allows female mosquitoes to target human skin.

  3. Hot or cold? Debate on protein heats up

    Wasabi and horseradish trigger the same pain-signaling receptor on nerve cells.

  4. Pushing Cancer over the Edge: Compounds trigger tumor-cell suicide

    Compounds that free cancer cells to commit suicide slow tumor growth.

  5. Reef Relations

    The discovery of humanlike genes in coral means that the common ancestor of both humans and coral was more complex than previously assumed.

  6. Fear Not

    Scientists find that facing your fears enables you to suppress them.

  7. Brain gene is tied to obesity

    A gene involved in brain chemistry influences whether a person is thin or fat.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Protein found central to ecstasy fever

    Scientists have identified a protein contributing to the high fevers that are sometimes generated by the drug ecstasy.

  9. Model Mice: Blood reveals signs of pancreatic cancer

    Mice that develop pancreatic cancer show signs of the disease long before malignant tumors arise, just as people with this type of cancer do.

  10. Seek and Destroy: Virus attacks cancer, spares normal cells

    A virus carried by mosquitoes naturally homes in on cancer cells and destroys them.

  11. Tiny Bubbles

    Microscopic vesicles shed by cells may help the AIDS virus, benefit cancer cells, and drive the immune response.

  12. Protein Portal: Enzyme acts as door for the SARS virus

    A protein that regulates blood pressure also serves as the cellular portal for the SARS virus.