2,456 results
2,456 results for: mutations
- Health & Medicine
Why the coronavirus’s delta variant dominated 2021
Mapping delta’s unique group of mutations and how they enhance the virus’s life cycle show why the variant spread so easily and caused so much havoc.
- Health & Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic is not an on-off switch
The pandemic is more of a dimmer switch, and it will be a slow slide to the endemic phase, says epidemiologist Aubree Gordon.
- Microbes
A bacteria-virus arms race could lead to a new way to treat shigellosis
As bacteria that cause shigellosis evolve to escape a virus, the microbes may become less deadly, a hopeful sign for “phage therapy.”
- Health & Medicine
What we know and don’t know about the omicron coronavirus variant
The new omicron variant has lots of mutations and sparked a surge of cases in South Africa, but researchers still don’t know a lot about it.
- Health & Medicine
Merck’s COVID-19 pill may soon be here. How well will it work?
Once hailed as a potential game changer, more complete data now reveal drawbacks of Merck’s antiviral COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir.
- Microbes
Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics
A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
The omicron variant is surging. Here’s what we’ve learned so far
Omicron is better at evading virus-attacking antibodies than previous coronavirus variants, but there are signs booster shots might help curb symptoms.
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These are the most-read Science News stories of 2021
Science News drew over 21 million visitors to our website this year. Here’s a rundown of the most-read news stories and long reads of 2021.
- Health & Medicine
These are the viruses that mRNA vaccines may take on next
Now that mRNA vaccines have proved effective against the coronavirus, scientists are taking aim at influenza, HIV and other viruses.
- Health & Medicine
In 2021, COVID-19 vaccines were put to the test. Here’s what we learned
Vaccines can’t single-handedly end the pandemic, but they are still essential in the fight against the coronavirus.
- Animals
Tuskless elephants became common as an evolutionary response to poachers
After poachers tore through a Mozambican elephant population, tuskless females tripled in number as humans altered the species’s evolutionary trajectory.
- Genetics
How the Human Genome Project revolutionized understanding of our DNA
Completion of the Human Genome Project was a huge milestone, but there’s more work to do to ensure equitable access to the information in our DNA.
