Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    No shortage of dangerous DNA

    Woman who lived until age 115 didn’t lack genes that predispose her to disease, but she may have had some that protected her.

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  2. Life

    Tracking diseases from anthrax to cholera

    Whole-genome sequencing points to microbial killers.

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  3. Life

    Take my enemy, please

    The risky business of relocating endangered species might have better outcomes if conservationists shift solitary animals along with their usual territorial rivals.

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  4. Life

    Study maps disease-linked gene variants

    New evidence suggests that disease-associated genetic variants are mostly involved in regulating genes.

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  5. Life

    Doubled gene means extra smarts

    Change during human evolution could have led to bigger brains.

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  6. Paleontology

    Oxygen blew up ancient amoebas

    Single-celled creatures' size spiked as oxygen levels rose.

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  7. Life

    Fossil moth reveals colorful hue

    Paleontologists deduce how ridges on the creature’s wings would have reflected light.

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  8. Life

    When snowpack shrinks, elk can binge on aspen

    As winters warm in the Rockies, majestic grazers may be threatening iconic Western tree.

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  9. Life

    Stem cell advance uses cloning

    A method that uses eggs to do genetic reprogramming is successful in humans.

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  10. Life

    Heart disease has its own clock

    Disrupting circadian rhythms in mouse blood vessels hardens arteries, suggesting that timing malfunctions in organs may cause disease.

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  11. Life

    Biomarker for Huntington’s disease identified

    A gene called H2AFY may provide scientists with a way to measure the condition’s progression and whether a treatment is having a biological effect.

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  12. Life

    2011 medicine Nobel goes to immunology researchers

    The prize in physiology or medicine recognizes scientists for their work on the body's innate and adaptive defenses against invading pathogens.

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