Search Results for: Bacteria
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5,520 results for: Bacteria
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18932
Please explain a curious statement in “A more perfect union.” The article paraphrases Jonas Sandstrom of Uppsala University in Sweden as suggesting that an “endosymbiont’s isolation may be a one-way ticket to extinction. Once the bacterium loses genes . . . it has no way of getting them back. It can’t, therefore, evolve away from […]
By Science News -
Animals
Microbe lets mite dads perform virgin birth
A gender-bent mite—in which altered males give birth as virgins—turns out to be the first species discovered to live and reproduce with only one set of chromosomes.
By Susan Milius -
Health & Medicine
Mice reveal the off switch for inflammation
Working with genetically engineered mice, scientists have identified a crucial natural mechanism that rodents use to shut down inflammation before it does harm.
By John Travis -
Planetary Science
Debate over life in Mars rock rekindles
Two recent studies could inject new life into the argument that a 4-billion-year-old Martian meteorite contains fossils of bacteria from the Red Planet but several scientists say the reports fall short of resurrecting that notion.
By Ron Cowen -
Earth
Ill Winds
Research suggests that the long-range movement of dust can sicken wildlife, crops—even humans—a continent away.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Germ-killing plastic wrap
Biodegradable plastic that releases germ killers provides an example of what’s known as active packaging, and scientists report progress toward taking this concept to market. Paul Dawson and his colleagues at Clemson (S.C.) University are fashioning plastics from proteins found in corn, soy, and wheat. While these biodegradable polymers are being heated or compressed to […]
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Landfills Make Mercury More Toxic
Landfill disposal of mercury-containing products can chemically transform the pollutant not only to make it more potent but also to foster its release into air.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
‘Bug’ spray cuts risk of ear infection
Spraying “good” bacteria into the nose reduced the incidence of ear infections in children especially prone to such infections.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Ancient Estrogen
A jawless fish ancestor may have revealed the most ancient of hormones and how current hormones evolved from it.
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Health & Medicine
AMA: Drugs are for anthrax, not fear
Doctors should not use antibiotics prophylactically against anthrax unless there is good reason to believe the individual had encountered the germs directly, the American Medical Association advises.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Boost in protein repair extends fly lives
In warmer-than-normal conditions, fruit flies that overproduce a protein-repair enzyme live about one-third longer than typical flies.
By John Travis -
Health & Medicine
NO News
Preliminary research suggests that inhaled nitric oxide may offer a much-needed treatment for patients suffering from complications of sickle cell disease.