Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. 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.

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  2. Animals

    Math models predict mysterious monarch navigation

    Researchers have come up with a series of equations to predict how monarchs use their eyes and antennae to figure out how to get to Mexico.

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  3. Life

    Having worms can be good for the gut

    Parasitic worms shift gut microbes and protect against bowel disease.

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  4. Ecosystems

    Heat may outpace corals’ ability to cope

    Corals may soon lose their ability to withstand warming waters.

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  5. 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.

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  6. Animals

    Pied flycatchers cruise nonstop for days to cross the Sahara

    Teeny, tiny passerine birds called pied flycatchers fly day and night during their annual migration south across the Sahara.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Zika’s role as a cause of severe birth defects confirmed

    A new analysis from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention confirms that Zika virus infection causes microcephaly and other severe birth defects.

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  8. Neuroscience

    Spinal cord work-around reanimates paralyzed hand

    A neural prosthesis can bypass a severed spinal cord, allowing a paralyzed hand to once again move.

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  9. Climate

    Pollen becoming bee junk food as CO2 rises

    Rising CO2 lowers protein content in pollen, threatening nutrition for bees.

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  10. Plants

    New species of tumbleweed is just as bad as its parents

    Two species of invasive tumbleweeds hybridized into a third. A new study finds it probably will be invasive, too.

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  11. Genetics

    Some people are resistant to genetic disease

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

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  12. Health & Medicine

    This week in Zika: New mouse model, virus vs. placenta, nerve insulation loss

    In three new papers, scientists present a tool for studying Zika, strike down a theory of infection and offer a broad look at what the virus does to the brain.

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