Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Year in review: Breakthrough gene editor sparks ethics debate
The gene editing system CRISPR has opened the door to new scientific advancements — and ethical concerns.
- Health & Medicine
Year in review: Not all bodies act their age
People grow old at different rates, but the underlying drivers of aging may be the same: molecular havoc wreaked inside of cells, scientists suggested in 2015.
- Life
Year in review: Microbe discoveries spur rethink of treetop of life
Microbes discovered in Arctic mud this year could be the closest relatives yet found to the single-celled ancestor that made life so complicated.
- Genetics
Year in review: Epigenome makes its debut
The Roadmap Epigenomics Project, unveiled in February 2015, is the first in a series of 3-D looks at the human genome.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: Alzheimer’s protein behaves like a prion
Under rare conditions, an Alzheimer’s-related protein may have jumped between people, scientists reported this year.
- Genetics
Year in review: Cancer genetics grows up
Researchers looking for mutations linked to cancer have found that not all genetic alterations should be targeted equally.
- Animals
Year in review: Woes of artificial lighting add up for wildlife
Studies published this year add dodging death, flirting and mothering to the tasks that artificial light can discombobulate in wild animals.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: ‘Speed cells’ help make navigation possible
The discovery of speed cells in the brain filled in a missing piece in the understanding of how the brain creates an internal map of the world.
- Animals
Year in review: New dates, place proposed for dogs’ beginnings
This year’s dog research suggested older origins and a new location of domestication for man's best friend.
- Genetics
Year in review: Fluke extinction surprises lab
A die-off of bacteria in a carefully controlled lab experiment offered an evolutionary lesson this year: Survival depends not only on fitness but also on luck.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: Gaps in brain nets might store memories
Holes in nets that surround nerve cells may store long-term memories, scientists proposed this year.
- Life
Science explains what makes dogs such sloppy drinkers
There’s hidden precision in the splashy mess of a dog drinking.
