Genetics

Plants

Plants might remember with prions

A plant protein has passed lab tests for prionlike powers as molecular memory.

Genetics

Gene-edited mushroom doesn’t need regulation, USDA says

A CRISPR-edited mushroom isn’t like other GMOs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.

Genetics

Malaria parasite doesn’t pass drug immunity to its offspring

Malaria parasites resistant to the antimalarial drug atovaquone die in mosquitoes, a new study finds.

Genetics

Some people are resistant to genetic disease

People who should have genetic diseases but don’t may point to new treatments.

Genetics

Researchers edit genes in human embryos for second time

Researchers in China deploy CRISPR to alter genes in human embryos again — this time to make cells HIV-resistant.

Genetics

Scientists build minimum-genome bacterium

Minimal genome organism reveals how much scientists don’t know about biology.

Genetics

Zika may have flown to Brazil in 2013

The brand of Zika currently floating around the Americas traces its origins to Asia and may have arrived in Brazil by air as early as 2013.

Humans

Pacific islanders got a double whammy of Stone Age DNA

Neandertal and Denisovan genes influence the health of present-day Melanesians.

Anthropology

Ancient DNA reveals who is in Spain’s ‘pit of bones’ cave

Ancient DNA shows Neandertals lived in northern Spain 430,000 years ago; the early date raises new questions about Neandertals’ origins.

Health & Medicine

Molecules found to counter antibiotic resistance

Molecules made in a lab can foil antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

Genetics

Missing genes not always a problem for people

Humans have ways to make up for missing genes, study suggests.

Genetics

‘Selfish’ DNA flouts rules of inheritance

R2d2 is selfish DNA that could skew scientists’ views of adaptation and evolution.