thailands rice farmers

Flood-proof crops? Plants engineered to grow taller may survive unstable environments

Erik Stokstad | Science | 
Stature matters to plants. Short crops can carry more grain without bending under their own weight—a key trait that helped ...
vaccine

‘It’s not premature to plan’: Deciding who gets the coronavirus vaccine first

Jon Cohen | Science | 
The new coronavirus’ disproportionate toll on the elderly could put them at the front of the line [for a vaccine] ...
umbria veterinario maiale

Another pandemic? New swine flu identified in China could jump to humans

Jon Cohen | Science | 
[A] new finding that pigs in China are more and more frequently becoming infected with a strain of influenza that ...
ss x

How widespread is the pandemic? Proposed global blood bank could provide missing answers

Robert Bazell | Science | 
Michael Mina is out for blood—millions of samples, which a nascent effort dubbed the Global Immunological Observatory (GIO), would monitor ...
x

Polio vaccines are inexpensive, easily available, already approved—and they might work wonders against COVID-19

Recent reports indicate that COVID-19 may result in suppressed innate immune responses. Therefore, stimulation by live attenuated vaccines [such as ...
web vaccinepic tsr

‘It’s been so chaotic’: US government ‘Operation Warp Speed’ may not be focusing on developing the most promising COVID-19 vaccines

Jon Cohen | Science | 
When the news broke [June 3] that Operation Warp Speed had selected five experimental COVID-19 vaccines to fast-track through testing ...
Cows in Pastures Agriland x

Coronavirus antibodies from GMO cows set for summer clinical trials

Mitch Leslie | Science | 
The latest recruits in the fight against COVID-19 are munching hay in a South Dakota barn. A biotech company has ...
x is your body aging faster than it should be slideshow

Cells that fight pathogens might also speed up human ‘inflammaging’

Mitch Leslie | Science | 
Our T cells let us down as we age, becoming weaker pathogen fighters. This decline helps explain why elderly people ...
usda editorial e

USDA’s relaxed biotech crop rules could speed plant development, but are regulations still too strict?

Erik Stokstad | Science | 
A major change to U.S. regulation of biotech will exempt some gene-edited plants from government oversight. The new policy ...
b f ab a

‘Psychobiotics’: Can we control the way we think by altering gut bacteria?

Elizabeth Pennisi | Science | 
The allure is simple: Drug development for neuropsychiatric disorders has lagged for decades, and many existing drugs don’t work for ...
photosynthesis

Artificial photosynthesis: Synthetic chloroplasts as solar-powered drug factories

Colin Barras | Science | 
There’s a new way to eat carbon dioxide. Researchers have built an artificial version of a chloroplast, the photosynthetic structures ...
ea f aa image

‘Operation warp speed’ hopes to turbocharge US quest for a coronavirus vaccine

Jon Cohen | Science | 
Conventional wisdom is that a vaccine for COVID-19 is at least 1 year away, but the organizers of a U.S ...
rice

Engineering plants to rapidly repair heat damage could preserve crop yields as climate changes

Erik Stokstad | Science | 
As plants convert sunlight into sugar, their cells are playing with fire. Photosynthesis generates chemical byproducts that can damage the ...
beebomb

Bugpocalypse? New research challenges widely publicized claims of impending catastrophic insect declines

Gergana Daskalova, Maria Dornelas | Science | 
Drastic declines in insect biomass, abundance, and diversity reported in the literature have raised concerns among scientists and the public ...
image

Scouring coronavirus patient genes to answer a question: Why do some people get deathly sick, when others don’t?

Jocelyn Kaiser | Science | 
COVID-19, caused by the new pandemic coronavirus, is strangely—and tragically—selective. Only some infected people get sick, and although most of ...
head blight zi d

Gene-drive technology may combat notorious Fusarium fungus that decimates global wheat yields

Elizabeth Pennisi | Science | 
The Fusarium fungus is the bane of every wheat farmer’s existence. Causing wheat scab—also known as head blight—it decimates harvests ...
Screen Shot at AM

Gene from grass-dwelling fungus may help safeguard global wheat production against deadly disease

Erik Stokstad | Science | 
Wheat scab hits farmers with a double punch. The fungal disease, also known as Fusarium head blight, shrivels grain and ...
f cb e aca ad ff eb

Identical sex chromosomes could be key to a long life

Erin Malsbury | Science | 
When 109-year-old Jessie Gallan was asked about the secret to her long life, she replied “staying away from men.” Other ...
covid outbreak south korea becomes biggest coronavirus centre

Better tracking of coronavirus infections could be possible through experimental antibody test from Singapore

Dennis Normile | Science | 
In what appears to be a first, disease trackers in Singapore have used an experimental antibody test for COVID-19 to ...
fdbbe a b ece c b a f faa

Failed HIV vaccine study is ‘another frustrating defeat’ in the fight against AIDS

Jon Cohen | Science | 
The failure-ridden search for a vaccine that can stop the AIDS virus has delivered yet another frustrating defeat. The HIV ...
im

Can we engineer soldiers to be immune to chemical attacks?

Jocelyn Kaiser | Science | 
Despite international bans, some countries, such as Syria, use deadly nerve agents against enemy soldiers and civilians. Existing treatments for these ...
merlin b d bebf e a d d a articlelarge

Virus used to deliver gene therapy treatments may increase liver cancer risk, study suggests

Jocelyn Kaiser | Science | 
Just as gene therapy finally seems to be living up to its promise, a study has revived a lingering worry ...
china gene babies

Gene-editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna calls for greater accountability on anniversary of China scientist CRISPR gene editing human embryo

Jennifer Doudna | Science | 
There are key moments in the history of every disruptive technology that can make or break its public perception and ...
golden rice

Bangladesh GMO Golden Rice approval was expected in November, but regulatory hurdles remain

Erik Stokstad | Science | 
Soon. That has long been scientists' answer when asked about the approval of Golden Rice, a genetically modified (GM) crop ...
corgi and terrier running

How old is your dog in human years? This calculator promises more accurate estimate, using epigenetics

Virginia Morell | Science | 
Our Scotch collie, Buckaroo, is just shy of 14 years old. Following the long-debunked but still popular idea that one ...
'Tuning' plant flowering signals with CRISPR could yield heartier crops suited to harsh environments

‘Tuning’ plant flowering signals with CRISPR could yield heartier crops suited to harsh environments

Yuval Eshed, Zachary Lippman | Science | 
Increasing human populations demand more productive agriculture, which in turn relies on crop plants adjusted for high-yield systems. [G]enetic tuning ...
cornharvestdfp

Single genetic tweak in GMO corn boosts yields 10%—other crops could be improved, too

Erik Stokstad | Science | 
Supporters of genetic engineering have long promised it will help meet the world’s growing demand for food. But despite the ...
file

Study claiming neonic pesticides harm wild birds has no relevance to real-world conditions, plant geneticist argues

David Bertioli | Science | 
Capturing wild birds and force-feeding 3-10% of a lethal dose (of anything) is cruel. It’s not surprising birds would become ...
glp menu logo outlined

Newsletter Subscription

* indicates required
Email Lists