The Duponts in Louisiana loved their mutt Melvin so much they jumped at the chance to replicate him. Melvin is gone now, but he has left behind two clones, Ken and Henry.
Companies are assembling and churning out tailored stretches of DNA faster and more cheaply than ever before. The tool speeds research into diseases of plants and people. But what about eugenics?
Up to half of all results from biomedical research laboratories these days can't be replicated by other science teams. Why not? Myriad flubs slow progress in the hunt for cures.
Researchers who helped develop powerful techniques warn that tweaking the genome is now easy. More public debate's needed, they say, before making changes in genes passed from parent to child.
The technique aims to rejuvenate a woman's eggs using mitochondria from cells extracted from her ovaries. A Toronto clinic's first births are due soon, and some doctors are worried about side effects.
Scientists have found some human DNA that, when added to mice, makes their brains bigger. But as DNA research into human brains goes forward, are there ethical lines we shouldn't cross?
"If smallpox is outlawed, only outlaws will have smallpox," says one NIH virologist. Others say keeping vials of deadly virus just invites a horrific accident or theft. WHO is about to vote — again.
It's not about making designer beer. Johns Hopkins scientists and undergrads stitched together strands of yeast DNA as a step in exploring the essential genetics of various species: What makes us us?
Journals usually require researchers to reveal genetic sequences for a toxin that is the subject of a scientific paper. The requirement was waived for a new botulinum toxin because of security risks.
The achievement is a long-sought step toward harnessing the potential power of such cells to treat diseases. But the discovery raises ethical concerns because it brings researchers closer to cloning humans.