Features
How Chaos in Chromosomes Helps Drive Cancer Spread
Samuel F. Bakhoum | Mar 1, 2022 | 10+ min read
A new link between inflammation and rampant chromosomal abnormalities reveals novel strategies to treat diverse malignancies.
Could Cancer’s Microbiome Help Diagnose and Treat the Disease?
Jef Akst | Mar 14, 2022 | 10+ min read
A growing appreciation of the bacterial assemblages that live within tumors has researchers striving to understand and capitalize on their role.
Adapting with a Little Help from Jumping Genes
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Jan 17, 2022 | 10+ min read
Long lambasted as junk DNA or genomic parasites, transposable elements turn out to be contributors to adaptation.
Editorial
Living the Life Pandemic
Living the Life Pandemic
The first part of 2022 is giving us a glimpse of humanity’s future relationship with COVID-19.
Speaking of Science
Notable Science Quotes
Notable Science Quotes
Reviving the Cancer Moonshot, disentangling the microbiome's effect in cancer, the observer effect, and more
Critic at Large
Opinion: How to Confront Anti-Science Sentiment
Opinion: How to Confront Anti-Science Sentiment
Reaching a science skeptic is not a matter of credentials; it’s a matter of heart.
Opinion: Dismantling Anti-vaccine Rhetoric on Social Media
Opinion: Dismantling Anti-vaccine Rhetoric on Social Media
Can requiring users of Facebook and other platforms to pass critical thinking tests stem the tide of widely disseminated misinformation?
Notebook
Even the Tiniest of Birds Use Smell in Some Situations
Even the Tiniest of Birds Use Smell in Some Situations
Once considered anosmic, birds are now widely recognized as using olfactory cues to aid in a wide range of behaviors.
Researchers Resurrect Coffee-Destroying Fungus—to Study It
Researchers Resurrect Coffee-Destroying Fungus—to Study It
Comparing the genomes of modern pathogens with those of cryopreserved strains from several decades ago shed light on the evolution of coffee wilt disease outbreaks in Africa.
Why Are Some Beetles Shiny? It’s Not What Researchers Thought
Why Are Some Beetles Shiny? It’s Not What Researchers Thought
The glossy shell of some beetles, it has long been speculated, helps hide the insects from predators. A recent paper put the hypothesis to the test—and found it wanting.
Microbial Analysis of River Reveals Considerable Diversity
Microbial Analysis of River Reveals Considerable Diversity
Scientists in Canada trace how aquatic communities change as Quebec’s Romaine River flows into the sea.
Scientist to Watch
Junyue Cao Applies Novel Approaches to Aging and Disease
Junyue Cao Applies Novel Approaches to Aging and Disease
The Rockefeller University geneticist is tracing the full lifespan of individual cells to better understand how and why humans age.
Thomas Lozito Is Figuring Out How Lizards Rebuild
Thomas Lozito Is Figuring Out How Lizards Rebuild
The University of Southern California bioengineer studies how lizards regrow their tails, with the goal of one day inducing regeneration in humans.
The Literature
Mechanism of a Genome Packaging Machine Discovered
Mechanism of a Genome Packaging Machine Discovered
Detailed analyses of cohesin’s movements indicate how this protein complex hauls chromatin fibers to package DNA into loops.
A Fasting-Mimicking Diet Thwarts Breast Cancer in Mice
A Fasting-Mimicking Diet Thwarts Breast Cancer in Mice
Coupling a diet low in calories, sugar, and protein with existing cancer drugs treats triple-negative breast cancer in mice, and low blood glucose is associated with better cancer outcomes in human patients.
Epigenetic Changes to Placenta Correlate with Maternal Depression
Epigenetic Changes to Placenta Correlate with Maternal Depression
An epigenome-wide association study found more than a dozen methylation changes in placental DNA that correlated with expectant mothers’ self-reports of depression and stress during their pregnancy.
Modus Operandi
DNA Nanopore Sequencing Adapted for Protein Sequence Comparisons
DNA Nanopore Sequencing Adapted for Protein Sequence Comparisons
Researchers link a stretch of DNA to a peptide of interest and measure current changes as the molecule is pulled by a helicase through a nanopore.
Bio Business
Cultured Meat Advances Toward the Market
Cultured Meat Advances Toward the Market
The biotech industry is chipping away at the obstacles standing between the lab and the dinner plate.
Careers
How to Bring the Public into the Scientific Process
How to Bring the Public into the Scientific Process
A new wave of research is recruiting patients and other members of the public to serve as equal partners, bringing fresh perspectives to research on diseases and other conditions.
Reading Frames
On the Trail of the Jackalope
On the Trail of the Jackalope
How horned rabbits led the way to the HPV vaccine
Opinion: Going Beyond Seed Banks
Opinion: Going Beyond Seed Banks
Rethinking why and how we conserve crop genetic diversity
Foundations
Death by Nostalgia, 1688
Death by Nostalgia, 1688
Before its association with a pining for the toys or TV shows of yesteryear, nostalgia was deemed a dangerous psychiatric disorder.
Infographics
Infographic: Chromosome Errors Cause Micronuclei and Drive Cancer
Infographic: Chromosome Errors Cause Micronuclei and Drive Cancer
When micronuclei rupture, chromosomes break, recombine, and form circles, causing inflammation and promoting carcinogenic growth.
Infographic: Putting Cancer’s Unique Microbiomes to Use
Infographic: Putting Cancer’s Unique Microbiomes to Use
From diagnosis to tracking treatment responses, bacteria and other microbes in the blood, gut, and tumors of cancer patients may provide helpful hints for improving their care.
Infographic: How Transposable Elements Can Shape Evolution
Infographic: How Transposable Elements Can Shape Evolution
The movements of so-called jumping genes can generate the genetic diversity needed to drive evolutionary change in populations over time.
Infographic: How Genome-Packaging Protein Cohesin Handles DNA
Infographic: How Genome-Packaging Protein Cohesin Handles DNA
The hinge region of cohesin pulls DNA to two head regions, like a person’s hand-to-hand motion of pulling on a rope.
Infographic: Reading Proteins with Nanopores
Infographic: Reading Proteins with Nanopores
Adapting DNA nanopore sequencing to peptides allows researchers to identify single amino acid differences.