Patrick Barry

All Stories by Patrick Barry

  1. Health & Medicine

    Mouse, Heal Thyself: Therapeutic cloning from a mouse’s own cells

    Mice with a Parkinson's disease–like condition benefited from receiving new nerve cells made through therapeutic cloning of their own cells.

  2. Fingerprinting fugitive microbes

    A new computational tool can identify engineered bacteria by finding the genetic "fingerprints" that distinguish altered bacteria from natural ones.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Long-life Link: Gut protein ties low insulin to longevity

    A new link between insulin and aging adds to scientists' understanding of longevity and points to possible targets for life-extending therapies.

  4. Health & Medicine

    New technique brings Parkinson’s treatment closer

    An efficient technique to make dopamine-producing nerve cells from human embryonic stem cells could mark a step toward devising therapies for Parkinson's disease.

  5. Health & Medicine

    A Way Forward: Releasing the brakes on cancer vaccines

    A new way to overcome tumors' defenses against the immune system marks an important step toward effective cancer vaccines.

  6. Earth

    Greener Green Energy: Today’s solar cells give more than they take

    With new production techniques, the total emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from making and using solar panels are now only one-tenth as high as those of conventional power generation.

  7. Agriculture

    Resistance to Bt crops emerges

    Resistance to pest-killing cotton crops is spreading among one species of caterpillar, but techniques to prevent the spread of resistance appear to be working for five other species.

  8. It takes a village of proteins

    Scientists learn how nerve cells sprout new connections by looking at thousands of distinct proteins simultaneously.

  9. Ecosystems

    Spread of nonnative fish mirrors human commerce

    Invasions of foreign freshwater fish are more common in areas with relatively high economic activity, suggesting that humans are a part of the problem.

  10. Faulty Fountains of Youth

    As a source of new cells to revitalize tissues, adult stem cells may cause some of decline of the body in old age, but the link between the two is not as simple as it seems.

  11. Health & Medicine

    New route to insulin-making cells

    Researchers have found cells resembling stem cells in the mouse pancreas, suggesting new ways to treat diabetes.

  12. Do-It-Yourself DNA: Scientists assemble first synthetic genome

    Assembly of the first human-made microbial genome could pave the way for making microbes with synthetic DNA.