Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- 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.
- Life
Having worms can be good for the gut
Parasitic worms shift gut microbes and protect against bowel disease.
- Ecosystems
Heat may outpace corals’ ability to cope
Corals may soon lose their ability to withstand warming waters.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Climate
Pollen becoming bee junk food as CO2 rises
Rising CO2 lowers protein content in pollen, threatening nutrition for bees.
- 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.
- Genetics
Some people are resistant to genetic disease
People who should have genetic diseases but don’t may point to new treatments.
- 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.
