Connecting Research and Experts with Journalists

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Ancient viral remnants in the human genome are activated during pregnancy and after significant bleeding in order to increase blood cell production, an important step toward defining the purpose of “junk DNA” in humans, according to new research from Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) published in Science.

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A new study finds that rocky planets orbiting small stars do have the potential for stable, life-supporting atmospheres. The finding supports continued study of the TRAPPIST-1 system and other top candidates in the search for life outside our solar system.

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Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have created a portable device that can detect colorectal and prostate cancer more cheaply and quickly than prevailing methods. The team believes the device may be especially helpful in developing countries, which experience higher cancer mortality rates due in part to barriers to medical diagnosis.

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Researchers from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center say they have identified a gene pathway involving the mineral zinc in mice that may someday point the way to using zinc-based supplements to directly help people with a rare disorder called short bowel syndrome (SBS).

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A new biomedical tool successfully delivers genetic material to edit faulty genes in developing fetal brain cells. This might stop disease progression of genetic-based neurodevelopmental conditions before birth.

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The element carbon is a building block for life, both on Earth and potentially elsewhere in the vast reaches of space. There should be a lot of carbon in space, but surprisingly, it's not always easy to find. While it can be observed in many places, it doesn’t add up to the volume astronomers would expect to see. The discovery of a new, complex molecule (1-cyanopyrene), challenges these expectations, about where the building blocks for carbon are found, and how they evolve. This research was published today in the journal Science.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified potentially far-reaching effects of a particular gut bacterium that was linked to better growth in Bangladeshi children receiving a therapeutic food designed to nurture healthy gut microbes. The far-reaching effects include regulating appetite, immune responses, neuronal function, and the ability of pathogenic bacteria to produce disease.

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Plasmas for fusion research can be heated using neutral beam injection (NBI). With NBI, fast neutral particles from a beam source are injected into the plasma then ionized so that the particles can transfer energy to existing plasma electrons and ions. This transfers the ions’ energy and heats the plasma. Researchers recently studied the variation in electron temperature during NBI and used the data to experimentally determine the neutral beam deposition profile.

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This week the Biden Administration proposed a new rule that would expand access to birth control, including making over the counter birth control pills free for women of reproductive age who have... ...

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Beyoncé is set to appear at a rally in Houston with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on Friday, ending the months-long speculation about whether the superstar will weigh in directly on the 2024 U.S.... ...