Stomach Of Ancient Iceman Held Microbes Like Ours
Scientists analyzed the tummy of a 5,300-year-old ice mummy and found bacteria that many modern humans still carry.
research
Gene Editing Tool Hailed As A Breakthrough, And It Really Is One
A tool for modifying genes is spreading through the biomedical research world like wildfire. As part of the series Joe's Big Idea, NPR's Joe Palca explores why CRISPR-Cas9 is becoming indispensable.
Congress Still Limits Health Research On Gun Violence
The wave of mass shootings in the U.S. is renewing a debate over treating gun violence as a public health issue. Congress has stood in the way of federal funding for studying injuries and deaths.
A Controversial Rewrite For Rules To Protect Humans In Experiments
One revision would crack down on studying tissue and blood samples without getting a person's consent. Another change would make it easier to conduct studies in many locations at once.
A Genetic Map Hints At What Makes A Brain Human
Differences in the patterns of genes that are turned on in brains of people and mice suggest glial cells may have helped humans develop brains that can acquire language and solve complex problems.
Should Human Stem Cells Be Used To Make Partly Human Chimeras?
The National Institutes of Health has issued a moratorium on funding work that puts human stem cells into nonhuman embryos. The concern is that hybrids might develop human brain cells, sperm or eggs.
Authors Retract Study That Says Sadness Affects Color Perception
It's the kind of oops no scientist wants to make. But the researchers who published a paper saying that watching sad movies makes it hard to perceive the color blue now say they erred.
Could Depression Be Caused By An Infection?
Infection and autoimmune activity result in inflammation. And psychiatric researchers now suspect that inflammation may play a role in some cases of depression and other mental illnesses.
Syrian Civil War Prompts First Withdrawal From Doomsday Seed Vault In The Arctic
Researchers in the Middle East have requested the first-ever withdrawal from the "final backup" seed bank because of destruction caused by the Syrian civil war.
Scientists Create Vomiting Machine To Learn How Norovirus Spreads
To investigate whether norovirus particles might form an infectious aerosol spray when a sick person vomits, researchers built a simulator that uses Jell-O instant pudding in explosive experiments.