Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Heart disease has its own clock
Disrupting circadian rhythms in mouse blood vessels hardens arteries, suggesting that timing malfunctions in organs may cause disease.
- Life
Biomarker for Huntington’s disease identified
A gene called H2AFY may provide scientists with a way to measure the condition’s progression and whether a treatment is having a biological effect.
- Life
2011 medicine Nobel goes to immunology researchers
The prize in physiology or medicine recognizes scientists for their work on the body's innate and adaptive defenses against invading pathogens.
- Life
Food makes male flies frisky
Courtship behavior in a classic lab insect is driven by the aroma of dinner.
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- Chemistry
Miracle fruit secret revealed
Bizarre berry works by sensitizing the tongue's sweet sensors to acidic flavors.
- Life
Genes & Cells
How nanotubes trigger a cell’s gag reflex, the skulking 1918 flu and more in this week’s news.
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- Life
Penguins may sniff out relatives
A zoo study sees hints of odor-based kin recognition in colony-dwelling birds.
- Life
XMRV tie to chronic fatigue debunked
A virus that was tied to the mysterious syndrome by 2009 research appears to have been a laboratory contaminant.
- Humans
Humans reached Asia in two waves
New genetic data show that some early migrants interbred with a mysterious Neandertal sister group.
- Chemistry
Science gets the deets on DEET
New research demonstrates how insect repellent may mix up mosquitoes’ smelling machinery.
