Biology

A Startup Just Raised $120 Million to Make Gene Editing Medications

Editas Medicine hopes to use CRISPR—a revolutionary new gene-editing technology—to treat conditions such as sickle-cell anemia, cancer, and cystic fibrosis. As MIT Technology Review reports, the influx of capital “reflects a surge of interest in CRISPR,” a powerful gene cutting-and-pasting tool that’s poised to revolutionize medicine. Editas, founded by a number of gene-editing pioneers, can…

A Child in Los Angeles Has the Plague

A Los Angeles County child is recovering from the plague, and public health agencies are searching the wilderness for the source of the infection. It’s the third case of plague this year in the U.S. The first two both happened in Colorado, and both were fatal. Earlier this week, an adult in Pueblo County, Colorado,…

Tapeworms: Bad for your guts, good for your brain? The intestinal worm Hymenolepsis diminuta appears to protect against memory loss in rats, researchers reportinBrain, Behavior and Immunity. It’s the latest example of how parasitic worms might be harnessed for therapeutic purposes. Contact the author at [email protected].

Scientists Turn Skin Cells into Brain Cells, Using Alzheimers Patients

You are looking at freshly-made human neurons, or brain cells. But they used to be common skin cells. And their existence could change how we treat Alzheimers. Using a special mix of small molecules, two groups of scientists in China have successfully turned human skin cells into neurons. They hope that their technique could one…

Venomous Frogs Use Deadly Face Spines to Slay Their Enemies

It’s common sense that you shouldn’t try to eat a poison dart frog. But you probably don’t want to go anywhere near one of these adorable little suckers, which use the tiny, bony spines on their faces to jab threatening animals with a venom more potent than that of a deadly pit viper. Meet Aparasphenodon…

Deep Sea Electricity May Have Kickstarted Life On Our Planet 

Curious about how life got started on Earth 3.8 billion years ago? Here’s a thought: Why not recreate ancient hydrothermal vents in the lab, and see if they produce enough juice to power a lightbulb? That, at least, is what a bunch of scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab decided to do—and the electrifying results…

Scientists Have Grown Human Serotonin Neurons in the Lab

This flurry of neon color above may look like a blurry photography of a particularly wild party, but in fact it’s the first ever sample of human serotonin neurons to be grown in the bottom of a Petri dish. Scientists have long known about serotonin neurons — which release and take up the neurotransmitter, which…

Anger a Skunk, And This is What Your Last Unstinky Moment Looks Like

Yep, this is what a skunk looks like the moment before it sprays you—all eyes and anus. However, if you’re lucky, before you get sprayed and run shrieking off into the night, this skunk will give you a dance and a handstand. Spotted skunks aren’t as well-known as their striped relatives. They’re not as chic,…

Frequent consumption of spicy foods has been linked to longer life. A 7-year study of nearly a half-million people in China shows that eating spicy foods one or two days a week can reduce death by as much as 14%. But correlation is not causation, leading some to question the study’s findings. Image credit: chrizzel_lu/Pixabay/CC0

What It’s Like to Lose Your Sense of Smell

Losing your sense of smell takes away more than scents and flavours – it can fundamentally change the way you relate to other people. Nick Johnson skims the lunch menu at the White Dog Cafe, a warren of little rooms and ante-rooms in Philadelphia’s university district. “Beef empanadas… I would have loved those. But all…

This Is How to Find the Spiders That Are Staring At You in the Dark

Have you ever looked out into your backyard at night and wondered how many spiders are lurking out there? If you have a flashlight, you can spot them by the creepy green glow of their eyes. Most spiders have eight eyes. In some species — mostly those that hunt for their prey, like wolf spiders…

X-Rays Reveal a Mysterious Component of Human Hair

A new and surprising component of human hair has just been discovered, according to research recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Crystallographic Association. Remarkably, it’s a discovery that could lead to improved hair products. Above: An electron microscopy image of a human hair cross section. The top region shows the external part…

I Love This Study On Activated Charcoal’s Effect on Farts

Every day you learn something new, and that’s great. But some days are extra special. Some days, you learn things about the “fecal liberation of intestinal gases.” Those days are the best. I knew that activated charcoal water filters existed. These filters, alternately known as granular activated carbon filters, are made of grains of charcoal…

City-Dwelling Coyotes Prefer Urban Spaces Like Their Human Neighbors

Whether they’re howling at fire engines or hanging out in bars, coyotes have become a part of urban life. But a new study of LA coyotes by the National Park System has confirmed something that Angelenos have suspected for years: Coyotes aren’t just sauntering down our streets on their way to the local park. They…

How These Ants Carry a Whole Cheerio Back to Base

Take a moldy Cheerio. Add a team of longhorn crazy ants and… suddenly you no longer have a moldy Cheerio. So how do they manage to make off with it so efficiently given they’re notoriously disorganized? In fact, that’s exactly what a paper just published in Nature Communications set out to discover. These particular ants…

The Science of the Dad Bod

Does a woman’s pregnancy affect the weight of her partner? And is weight gain sustained while the kids grow up? Anecdotally, many people would undoubtedly say yes from their own experiences. Lack of sleep, less time for exercise, and having a cheeky bite of junk food with the kids all add up in a serious…

Scientists Can Turn Human Cells Into Working Lasers

How about this for a bright idea: A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School has developed three different ways to turn individual cells into functioning lasers that emit light when they’re excited. As New Scientist reports, the team have demonstrated that particles and droplets in skin can be exploited to emit light. In one…

No, It’s Not Your Imagination — Birds in the City Really Are Meaner

Out in the country, birds are always singing happily. But in the city, they squawk and fly into your face. Now scientists say there’s actually a reason why city birds can be such aggressive jerks — and no, it’s not the same reason why urban humans can be so terrible. In a recent study published…

A New Migration Record for Blue Whales, and Why it’s Important

In 1998, researchers photographed and collected DNA from a female pygmy blue whale off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. Eight years later, another team did the same with a similar-looking whale in the waters off Chile. Turns out, it was the same whale. Here’s Annick Laurent, for Science: That means Isabela (named after the…

Millions of landmines remain strewn across Angola, remnants of the country’s long civil war. Remarkably, some elephants have learned to sniff out and avoid these hazards, and even alert an entire herd to the danger. Intrigued, the U.S. Army is now testing the ability of elephants to detect chemicals found in landmines—and they’re passing with…