Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
A more accurate prenatal test to predict Down syndrome
A test to detect genetic problems such as Down syndrome examines a baby’s DNA in the mother’s blood and may limit the need for more invasive screening.
- Health & Medicine
Injured baby hearts may be coaxed to regenerate
Shots of a growth factor protein reduce cell death in infant mice with heart damage.
- Health & Medicine
Older moms may have options to reduce newborns’ risks
Although babies born to older mothers face a higher danger of congenital heart defects, exercising moms may offset this added risk, a study in mice shows.
- Tech
Exoskeleton boot makes for more efficient walking
Newly developed exoskeleton boots that are unpowered are showing scientists that it is still possible to make walking even more efficient for humans.
- Microbes
Some superbugs lurk in Britain’s surf
In Great Britain’s coastal waters, surfers and swimmers are exposed to low levels of drug-resistant E. coli, a new study finds.
- Humans
Egg-meet-sperm moments are equal opportunities for girls and boys
Despite previous claims, equal numbers of male and female embryos are conceived, new data suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Performance gains from Tommy John surgery still up for debate
Major league baseball pitchers who undergo two Tommy John surgeries have shorter careers than peers who don’t have the surgery, a new study finds.
- Science & Society
White House unveils strategy against antibiotic resistance
The Obama Administration has launched a long-term plan to curb antibiotic resistance, unveiling incentives and requirements designed to boost surveillance and diagnosis of resistant microbes.
- Genetics
Iceland lays bare its genomes
A detailed genetic portrait of the Icelandic population is helping scientists to identify the genetic underpinnings of disease.
- Chemistry
Air pollution molecules make key immune protein go haywire
Reactive molecules in air pollution derail immune responses in the lung and can trigger life-long asthma.
- Health & Medicine
Clean-up gene gone awry can cause Lou Gehrig’s disease
Scientists have linked mutations on a gene involved in inflammation and cell cleanup to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
- Chemistry
Today’s pot is more potent, less therapeutic
The medicinal qualities of marijuana may be up in smoke thanks to years of cross-breeding plants for a better buzz.
