![Carolyn Gramling](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/c_gramling.jpg?resize=214%2C214&ssl=1)
Carolyn Gramling
Earth & Climate Writer
Carolyn is the Earth & Climate writer at Science News. Previously she worked at Science magazine for six years, both as a reporter covering paleontology and polar science and as the editor of the news in brief section. Before that she was a reporter and editor at EARTH magazine. She has bachelor’s degrees in Geology and European History and a Ph.D. in marine geochemistry from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She’s also a former Science News intern.
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All Stories by Carolyn Gramling
- Health & Medicine
Gender Gap: Male-only gene affects men’s dopamine levels
A gene found only in men affects the brain's production of dopamine, a finding that may help explain why men are more likely than women to develop Parkinson's disease and other dopamine-related illnesses.
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Degrading a Defense: Bacteria use enzyme to escape trap
Some bacteria have evolved an enzyme that enables them to escape the body's defenses.
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- Animals
Poor Devils: Critters’ fights transmit cancer
Tasmanian devils transmit cancer cells when they bite each other during routine squabbles, producing lesions that are often fatal.
- Earth
Sinking Mercury: Light-based reactions destroy toxic chemical in Arctic lakes
Sunlight triggers the entry of poisonous mercury into polar lakes, but it also removes most of the toxic compound before fish can consume it.
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The Fat Track: Signals between cells keep creatures lean
An ancient cellular pathway that determines cells' fates also inhibits fat formation in insects and mammals.