Neanderthal extinction; eradicating polio; virus takes down massive algal bloom; receptor behind the hummingbird’s sweet tooth; legal threat for PubPeer; price tag of scientific fraud
Many species of birds and other vertebrates form pair bonds and mate with just one other individual for much of their lives. But the unions don’t always work out. Scientists want to know the underlying factors.
In discovering their shared ancestry, a distantly related animal geneticist and plant pathologist find a common thread in their work on immune receptors.
A reference sequence for this emerging model organism will facilitate research on type 2 diabetes and the health effects of circadian rhythm disruption.
Human endogenous retroviruses that colonized vertebrate DNA millions of years ago have long been dismissed as junk DNA, but researchers now know that they may play important roles in cancer, neurodegeneration, and other ailments.
Clinical trials that target human endogenous retroviruses to treat multiple sclerosis, ALS, and other ailments are underway, but many questions remain about how these sequences may disrupt our biology.