CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian inquiry began investigating on Monday whether a woman convicted almost two decades ago of smothering her four children to death might be innocent.
The inquiry by retired New South Wales state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Bathurst is the second judicial investigation into Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions in 2003 and reflects advances in genetic science that add weight to her argument that her children died of natural causes.
PALMERSTON NORTH, New Zealand (AP) — How do you stop a cow from burping?
It might sound like the start of a humorous riddle, but it's the subject of a huge scientific inquiry in New Zealand. And the answer could have profound effects on the health of the planet.
The lone volunteer in a unique study involving a gene-editing technique has died, and those behind the trial are now trying to figure out what killed him.
Terry Horgan, a 27-year-old who had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, died last month, according to Cure Rare Disease, a Connecticut-based nonprofit founded by his brother, Rich, to try and save him from the fatal condition.
There’s an old saying that adversity makes you stronger. Real life shows that’s not always true, but the adage highlights an evolving debate among scientists about resilience.
After traumatic events and crises such as child abuse, gun violence or a pandemic, what explains why some people bounce back, while others struggle to cope?
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — When Chastity Murry had her first psychotic break, she went into her bathroom and downed a whole bottle of pills, hoping to die. Her teenage daughter had to perform CPR to save her life.
NEW YORK (AP) — A new study suggests Neanderthals formed small, tightknit communities where females may have traveled to move in with their mates.
The research used genetic sleuthing to offer a rare snapshot of Neanderthal family dynamics — including a father and his teenage daughter who lived together in Siberia more than 50,000 years ago.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Food security, consumer rights and biodiversity groups are protesting Kenya’s reversal of a ban on genetically modified foods, saying the public wasn’t consulted on an issue key to the East African country’s economy and safety.
OJAI, Calif. (AP) — A young mountain lion was struck and killed by a vehicle in Southern California early Friday, just weeks after his brother was fatally hit on another freeway, according to the National Park Service.
BENI, Congo (AP) — A new case of the Ebola virus has been confirmed in Congo’s eastern Beni city, Congo’s ministry of health announced Monday, saying it is linked to a previous outbreak.
Testing by a lab at the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Goma confirmed the case was the Ebola Zaire strain and was genetically linked to Congo’s 10th outbreak in Ituri and North Kivu provinces from 2018 to 2020 that killed more than 2,000 people, the ministry said.
People who believe they are descendants of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre can now provide genetic material to help scientists when they begin trying to identify remains of possible victims.
In a novel experiment, a woman with advanced pancreatic cancer saw her tumors dramatically shrink after researchers in Oregon turbocharged her own immune cells, highlighting a possible new way to someday treat a variety of cancers.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian state attorney general on Wednesday declined to pardon a mother convicted almost 20 years ago of smothering her four children to death and instead ordered a new inquiry into whether there could be a medical explanation for the tragedies.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Foreign drug cartels that established illegal outdoor marijuana farms in Oregon last year are adapting as pressure on them begins to mount, law enforcement officials said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Research confirms what dog lovers know — every pup is truly an individual.
Many of the popular stereotypes about the behavior of golden retrievers, poodles or schnauzers, for example, aren't supported by science, according to a new study.
Scientists have analyzed the full genetic blueprints of more than 18,000 cancer samples, finding new patterns of mutations that could help doctors provide better, more personalized treatment.
Their study, published Thursday in the journal Science, isn’t the first to do such comprehensive “whole genome” analyses of cancer samples.
Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago.
An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome – the set of instructions to build and sustain a human being – in research published Thursday in the journal Science.
Holly Nover grew up trying to hide her stutter.
“I was very self conscious,” said the 40-year-old St. Johns, Florida mom, whose 10-year-old son Colton also has a speech impediment. “So I developed habits to switch my words so it wouldn’t be noticed.”
If knowledge is power, knowing the intimate secrets of one's DNA could be a powerful weapon. That might explain why the world leaders who hastened to Moscow in recent days for diplomatic talks seemed to balk at Russian-administered coronavirus tests.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Greater reliance on genetic testing of baby whales and their mothers can provide more accurate information about a rare species and increase the chances of saving them from extinction, according to the authors of a new scientific study.
Researchers on Thursday reported the latest in a surprising string of experiments in the quest to save human lives with organs from genetically modified pigs.
This time around, surgeons in Alabama transplanted a pig’s kidneys into a brain-dead man — a step-by-step rehearsal for an operation they hope to try in living patients possibly later this year.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit part of its decision not to protect Yellowstone National Park’s bison as an endangered species.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jake Litvag leaned in for a closer look as a lab mouse scurried around an enclosure, stopping to sniff a large block.
“Hi, Jakob 1. I’m Jake,” the 16-year-old said, naming the little furry creature engineered to have the same genetic abnormality he has.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Endangered California condors can have “'virgin births," according to a study released Thursday.
Researchers with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said genetic testing confirmed that two male chicks hatched in 2001 and 2009 from unfertilized eggs were related to their mothers.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho company that successfully brought genetically modified potatoes to the market announced an agreement Thursday to help a California-based plant breeding company grow strawberries they say will stay fresh longer and have a longer growing season.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Scientists have traced the genetic makeup of lake trout, a feat that should boost efforts to rebuild populations of the prized fish in the Great Lakes and other North American waters where they've been hammered by invasive species, overfishing and pollution, officials said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed geneticist Eric Lander to be President Joe Biden's chief science adviser, one of the last unfilled Cabinet posts in the Biden administration.
Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was approved by a voice vote Friday to serve as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a position Biden has elevated to Cabinet rank.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The inaugural harvest of genetically modified salmon began this week after the pandemic delayed the sale of the first such altered animal to be cleared for human consumption in the United States, company officials said.
BRUSSELS (AP) — A new European Union study finds that the two decade-old legislation on genetically modified organisms should be revamped, a process environmentalists claim will open the door to a new generation of bioengineered crops being allowed into the EU market without proper checks...
LONDON (AP) — On March 4, 2020, when there were just 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.K., professor Sharon Peacock recognized that the country needed to expand its capacity to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus...
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago...
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — After 25 years of inbreeding, Yellowstone National Park’s wolves are becoming more genetically similar, researchers have found...
Two large studies give a much sharper picture of which inherited mutations raise the risk of breast cancer for women without a family history of the disease, and how common these flawed genes are in the general population...
The race against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Mutations are rapidly popping up, and the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a variant that can elude current tests, treatments and vaccines could emerge...
WASHINGTON (AP) — If you’re an identical twin who’s always resisted being called a clone of your sibling, scientists say you have a point...
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators have approved a genetically modified pig for food and medical products, making it the second such animal to get the green light for human consumption...
LONDON (AP) — The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans, warning that the transmission of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people...