Summary: A new experimental cancer drug could ease cognitive difficulties for those with Rett syndrome, a rare autism-linked disorder, by enhancing brain cell functions. The drug, ADH-503, improves the activity…
Category: Genetics
Viewpoint: How to best regulate chemicals? ‘Precautions employed to regulate tiny, sometimes nonexistent risks can cause real harm’
For virtually everything in life, we face decisions about whether we should “sweat the small stuff.” No doubt, most may have encountered a boss who micromanages us with useless reports…
Why do some animals have bigger brains than others?
Thanks to our large brains, humans and non-human primates are smarter than most mammals. But why do some species develop large brains in the first place? The leading hypothesis for…
Smaller than microplastics? Nanoplastics are too small to see yet may seriously impact our environment and health
It’s become common to read that microplastics – little bits of plastic, smaller than a pencil eraser – are turning up everywhere and in everything, including the ocean, farmland, food…
Adjusting Proteins Increases Ozempic’s Effectiveness
Summary: Adjusting melanocortin proteins in the brain enhances the effectiveness of GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs. By inhibiting MC3R or activating MC4R, mice showed increased sensitivity to these drugs, leading…
Viewpoint: Few topics in science, health and food elicit more fear and misconceptions than the phrase GMO, most of it based on intentional disinformation
Few topics in science, health and food elicit more fear and misconceptions than the phrase GMO, and most of it is based on intentional disinformation. Let’s dissect the science. GMO:…
Throw away your lead-soaked tampons? Clickbait headlines exaggerate misrepresented study
Another day, another wildly mischaracterized paper going viral online, eroding science literacy, exacerbating chemophobia, and making our jobs as scientists harder. If people didn’t scrape PubMed or academic websites for press…
Freeze-drying turned a woolly mammoth’s DNA into 3-D ‘chromoglass’
Beef jerky and some woolly mammoths have at least one thing in common: Drying turns their DNA into super-tough glass. This glassy DNA is so stable that it preserved the…
Viewpoint: Rockefeller Foundation and other advocacy organizations argue agricultural production ‘hides’ the ‘true’ cost of food, favoring big corporations and wealthy and wasteful countries to the planet’s detriment. Here’s the nuance behind the inflammatory rhetoric
The first battle in President Lydon Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” launched in 1964, was figuring out how to measure it. A Social Security Administration employee, Mollie Orshansky, won the battle,…
Delaying menopause? Why keeping ovaries working longer could potentially prevent age-related diseases
The ovaries, in particular, appear to be connected to virtually every aspect of a woman’s health. They also abruptly stop performing their primary role in midlife. Once that happens, a…
