Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
‘Miracle’ tomato turns sour foods sweet
Pucker no more: That seems to be one objective of research underway at a host of Japanese universities. For the past several years, they’ve been developing bio-production systems to inexpensively churn out loads of miraculin — a natural taste-altering protein that makes sour foods seem oh so sweet. Their newest biotech reactor: grape tomatoes.
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- Life
Removing a barrier to regrowing organs
Depleting proteins that prevent cancer allowed heart cells to regenerate in mouse experiments.
- Life
Gene licensing stifles R&D
Making research findings private property can stymie innovation down the road, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Beneficial bacteria may protect babies from HIV
No one argues that when it comes to feeding baby, mom’s milk is best. But mothers infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, face a dilemma: Because some of their virus can be shed in breast milk, babies risk becoming infected as they drink it. Two research teams are now investigating a germ-warfare strategy to treat such vulnerable infants.
- Life
Emerging disease may wipe out common bat in the Northeast
Hard-hit region could lose little brown myotis to white-nose syndrome within decades
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- Life
Bullied booby chicks end up OK
In a seabird nest, abuse by older siblings doesn’t hamper fitness.
- Life
Marine census still counting new life-forms
The Gulf of Mexico ranked among the top five marine regions for number of known species.
- Life
Disabling cellular assassin prevents cancer
A counterintuitive experiment may help explain why survivors are more vulnerable to other malignancies later in life.
- Life
For ducks, penis length depends on the other guys
Male genitals grow longer with more competition from other males.
