MS-LS3-1
Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
- Earth
Cool Jobs: Finding foods for the future
What's for dinner... tomorrow? Scientists are developing new foods to meet the demands of the growing population in a changing world.
- Health & Medicine
New treatments may rally ex-president’s fight against cancer
Former President Jimmy Carter has a potentially lethal type of skin cancer that has already spread to his liver and brain. Recent improvements in medicine may help him fight it.
- Animals
Chikungunya wings its way north — on mosquitoes
A mosquito-borne virus once found only in the tropics has adapted to survive in mosquitoes in cooler places, such as Europe and North America.
- Genetics
DNA: Our ancient ancestors had lots more
Ancestral humans and their extinct relatives had much more DNA than do people today, a new study finds. It mapped genetic differences over time among 125 different human groups.
- Brain
Explainer: Sometimes the body mixes up male and female
Certain medical conditions demonstrate how complicated biology can be. Being genetically male and female will not guarantee that your body won’t sometimes contain one or more features of both.
- Health & Medicine
New ways to fight the flu
Influenza sickens millions each year. A worldwide epidemic could kill many of them. Fortunately, new ways to fight the flu offer hope — before it’s too late.
- Animals
Return of the bed bug
Bed bugs have staged a comeback over the past 15 years. The bloodsucking parasites succeeded through a combination of evolution and luck.
- Microbes
Making a microbe subway map
We are surrounded by bacteria, fungi and other tiny organisms. Now, high school scientists have contributed to the first map of microbes in the New York subway system.
- Health & Medicine
New virus may have given kids polio-like symptoms
More than 100 U.S. children developed a paralyzing illness in 2014. Genetic evidence now suggests that the most likely culprit is a new form of a virus in the polio family.
- Genetics
How DNA is like a yo-yo
When not in use, DNA coils tightly. But it must uncoil for the cell to ‘read’ its genes. Physical forces affect how easily that happens, new data show.
- Genetics
Mice can teach us about human disease
Humans and mice look and act very differently. But 85 to 90 percent of their genes are the same or quite similar. So an international group of scientists is deciphering the instructions in mouse genes to help us better understand our own.
- Health & Medicine
A whale of a lifespan
Bowhead whales can live more than 200 years. The secret to such longevity may lie in the Arctic species’ genes. Scientists recently mapped the whale’s genetic code. They found features that protect the marine mammal against cancer and other problems related to old age.
