2,414 results
- Humans
Science News of the Year 2004
A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during the year 2004.
- Anthropology
Cannibalism’s DNA Trail: Gene may signal ancient prion-disease outbreaks
Cannibalism among prehistoric humans may have left lasting genetic marks.
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Losing Rhythm: Gene mutation causes heart problems
Chinese researchers have for the first time identified a genetic defect that causes atrial fibrillation, a disorder in which the heart's upper chambers beat irregularly and too rapidly.
- Health & Medicine
Gene causes body-fat disorder
A gene linked to a form of muscular dystrophy also causes a disease that deposits fat unevenly after puberty.
- Health & Medicine
Cluster Buster: Might a simple sugar derail Huntington’s?
A study in mice with a disease resembling Huntington's shows that a simple sugar impedes the protein aggregation that kills brain cells.
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Brain-Cell Loss Found in Narcolepsy
The puzzling sleep disorder known as narcolepsy stems from the destruction of a small group of brain cells.
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Livers: Better late than never
Drawing on an ancient Greek myth, researchers have given the name prometheus to a mutant strain of zebrafish that appear to have no liver early in their lives.
- Anthropology
Humanity’s pedestal lowered again?
A new genetic study reaches the controversial conclusion that chimpanzees belong to the genus Homo, just as people do.
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Don’t Let the Bugs Bite
Using disease-control strategies based on genetic engineering, scientists are working to counter Chagas' disease, malaria, sleeping sickness, and other insectborne infections.
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19306
Your article ends with the claim that “a color-blind person and a noncarrier have no chance of having a color-blind child.” Yet as I recall from basic biology class, color blindness is considered a prime example of a sex-linked trait, which makes the above statement untrue. Carried on the X chromosome, the trait would manifest […]
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Visionary Research
Scientists are debating why primates evolved full color vision and whether that development led to a reduced sense of smell.
- Math
Prime-Time Cicadas
Cicadas are flying, plant-eating insects. Most cicada species have life cycles that span 2 to 8 years. They spend most of their lives underground before emerging as adults. In a few species, almost all the individuals in a given location come out of hiding at the same time. These are known as periodical cicadas, and […]
