Examining the caffeine-producing pathways across various plants, scientists at Western Michigan University resurrected extinct enzymes, which hinted how the diverse species evolved to synthesize the same compound in their own ways. The team’s results were published in PNAS this week (September 20). “This is a very nice article that illustrates the multiplicity of adaptive pathways utilized in biochemical evolution,” said evolutionary biologist Michael Clegg of the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the study.
A DNA vaccine protected Rhesus macaques from viral infection and led to the production of neutralizing antibodies in mice, a team led by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reported in Science this week (September 22). “This [DNA vaccine], if proven safe and [that it] generates the type of immune response in humans seen here in animals, is on the path to potentially become the first public health tool ...
