Science

On April 25, 1953, Nature first published the research spearheaded by James Watson and Francis Crick on the molecular structure of DNA. 63 years later, DNA analysis and manipulation play major roles in nearly every aspect of our lives. From genetically-tailored weight loss to precision pest control to data-driven genealogy, …

Synaptic pruning is a little like sleep. We know both processes are important to healthy brain function, but we don’t know exactly how they happen, nor how to reliably treat problems in the system. Disruptions in the delicate process of synaptic pruning are associated with disorders like schizophrenia and autism, …

In biology, more than any other science, there is quite a lot of restraint. Whether it’s a banned, deadly super-virus or a taboo experiment with a human embryo, there are countless avenues of biology that can be pursued, but which shouldn’t be. Just where the line lies, separating the “weird-but-necessary” …

Gene therapy is part of an increasingly large collection of research fields: those with a huge, useless backlog of innovations. Gene therapy researchers have spent decades developing amazing, world-changing therapies with absolutely no ability to use those therapies outside of a test tube, or at best a cloned rodent. Now, …

This past week saw an intriguing confluence of multiple disciplines, in the form a new artificial stingray model its creators call a “living robot,” and an unconventional means of studying the human heart. Driven by rat cells and modeled after a fish, it might seem like (and be) an odd …

Glib catch phrases like “better off together” tend to ring hollow when politicians say them. But in at least one arena, we really are better off together, and that’s when it comes to crowdsourced genetics studies. In testimony to this, a new research effort carried out by the drug titan Pfizer …

Right now, the problems with DNA have nothing to do with DNA. The molecule itself, deoxyribonucleic acid, is extremely well characterized at this point. We can read it, write it, and manipulate it. We can edit it in living cells, and create alternate versions of it with special properties we …

Here’s a new invention that, while potentially useful, is even more interesting as an illustration of the nature of sound: the acoustic prism. When light enters a prism made of some refractive material, the sub-components of that light have their paths affected slightly differently, based on their wavelength (color); the …

Like modern day alchemists, scientists are attempting to transform a common element into a precious metal. This isn’t about making lead into gold, but turning elemental hydrogen into a different, never before seen form of hydrogen. Scientists are tantalizingly close to producing the first samples of solid metallic hydrogen using …

A fifth fundamental force, perhaps discovered as part of the search for dark matter, has been reported in a new paper published in Physical Review Letters. The results still need further analysis, but they represent a step forward for an idea that has caused several months of controversy in open-source journals, …