Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Why using genetic genealogy to solve crimes could pose problems
Rules governing how police can use DNA searches in genealogy databases aren’t clear, raising civil rights and privacy concerns.
- Animals
In a conservation catch-22, efforts to save quolls might endanger them
After 13 generations isolated from predators, the endangered northern quoll lost its fear of them.
- Health & Medicine
At-home telomere testing is not a reliable marker of aging, researcher says
Telomere testing for consumers offers a poor measure of “biological age,” says Johns Hopkins oncologist Mary Armanios.
- Life
Dogs carry a surprising variety of flu viruses
Dogs in China carry a wider variety of flu viruses than previously thought, and may be capable of passing the flu to humans.
- Health & Medicine
What we know — and don’t know — about a new migraine drug
A migraine prevention drug was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But some questions about the therapy remain.
- Genetics
Privacy and consumer genetic testing don’t always mix
Interested in taking a direct-to-consumer genetic test? Here are some things you should know.
- Health & Medicine
‘Outbreak’ puts the life cycle of an epidemic on display
At the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the exhibit “Outbreak” highlights how infectious diseases shape our world.
- Genetics
What consumer DNA data can and can’t tell you about your risk for certain diseases
Consumers face lots of choices and unanswered questions when they get personal genomic information related to disease risk from the Internet.
- Neuroscience
Here’s why scientists are questioning whether ‘sonic attacks’ are real
Sonic attacks would be hard to pull off and a terrible way of incapacitating diplomats, experts say.
- Genetics
Guidelines call for limits to whole genome testing for fetuses
Powerful tests offer unprecedented detail about fetal genomes. But whole-genome tests aren’t ready for widespread use yet, doctors caution.
- Environment
Treating roads with oil and gas wastewater may spread harmful pollution
When spread on roads, wastewater from oil and gas production can leach radium and other contaminants into the environment, a new study finds.
- Animals
The first land-walking vertebrates may have emerged from salty estuaries
Early tetrapods were transitional creatures — not only between land and water, but also between fresh and salty environments.
