Scientists have genetically modified isolated microbes for decades. Now, using CRISPR, they intend to target entire microbiomes.

Photo: Steve Bunk Dave Tinnin, field research associate in the University of New Mexico's biology department, takes blood samples and measurements of rodents caught on the research station grounds. At the end of a freeway exit near Soccoro, N.M., the hairpin turn onto a gravel road is marked by a sign that warns, "Wrong Way." But it isn't the wrong way if you want to reach the University of New Mexico's (UNM) long-term ecological research (LTER) station. The sign's subterfuge is the first indi

Low levels of the clotting factor HSP47 protect the sleeping giants from blood clots, and the same may be possible for humans and other mammals.

Metagenomic sequencing can help detect unknown pathogens, but its widespread use faces challenges.

Madness and Memory, Promoting the Planck Club, The Carnivore Way, and The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

The proteasome’s ability to target and degrade specific proteins is proving useful to researchers studying protein function or developing treatments for diseases.

Scientists are using video games to tap the collective intelligence of people around the world, while doctors and educators are turning to games to treat and teach.

PRIZE WITH A PRICE: Science historian Peter Galison has taken some ribbing from his family since being named a MacArthur fellow. One could almost pity Peter Galison. A historian of science at Harvard University, Galison is one of seven members of the scientific community among the 23 recipients of this year's John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowships. The coveted five-year awards provide unrestricted support plus health insurance to talented individuals, with no reports or proj

Anthrax, tigers, and bison Jack Woodall has raised some very important and contentious issues in wildlife conservation. 1 It is true that improved funding such as that available in countries like Canada could help achieving conservation goals in developing countries like India, where poaching poses a threat to many wild species, including the tiger. Interestingly, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, where he had an unpleasant and life-threatening experience is supposed to be am

African trypanosomiasis is making an unwelcome comeback. But unlike other returning diseases, this one has a drug treatment—eflornithine—that disappeared from the market when it failed to cure cancer. Yet like Viagra's origin from a curious side effect in a clinical trial, so too was eflornithine reborn. "When it was discovered that it removes mustaches in women, it suddenly had a market: western women with mustaches," says Morten Rostrup, president of the international council for M