Clam cancers
Columbia University researchers who identified the first examples of transmissible cancers in mollusks have now identified three more examples of such maladies, affecting three bivalve species. “A few years ago, we only knew of two examples [of transmissible cancers]: in dogs and Tasmanian devils,” said Elizabeth Murchison of the University of Cambridge, U.K., who was not involved in the work. “Now, with five transmissible cancers in bivalves and the identification of a second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils, perhaps these cancers are not as rare as we previously thought.”
Zika vaccine trial
The US Food and Drug Administration has green-lighted a Phase 1 clinical trial to assess the effects of a Zika vaccine codeveloped by researchers at Inovio Pharmaceuticals and elsewhere.
Infection assistants
Mosquito bites can enhance viral replication through increased host inflammation, according to the results of a mouse study.
Reef bleaching
At the International Coral Reef...
Memory molecule?
Cathepsin B, an enzyme released by muscles following exercise, was associated with memory improvement in mice and people in a recent study.
Neuronal diversity
Sequencing DNA and messenger RNA from single brain cells, researchers seek to better understand differences in gene expression among neurons. This week, a team led by researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and the University of California, San Diego, reported a method for analyzing transcription in individual neurons.
#FieldworkFail book
“It’s important to talk about failures,” illustrator Jim Jourdane told The Scientist. “It’s kind of humanizing science.” Jourdane is working to self-publish his depictions of fieldwork bloopers submitted by scientists.
News from #ASMMicrobe2016
Salt-loving extremophiles; sex differences in immunity; shared mouth microbes; notable quotes
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