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Title

7109

I’m Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health. As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project, I’m here to talk about its history and the critical role it has played in precision medicine. Ask me anything!

1627

Sometimes called “wear and tear” arthritis, osteoarthritis in people who are obese was long assumed to simply be a consequence of undue stress on joints. But researchers provide the first evidence that bacteria in the gut – governed by diet – could be the key driving force behind osteoarthritis.

980

A tooth-mounted sensor can track when patients consume glucose, salt, and alcohol. The 2-mm-by-2-mm device can then send data to smartphones and the like, according to a new study from Tufts.

106

By passively monitoring user-generated data from medical cannabis patients, researchers have glimpsed the types and amounts of marijuana that seem effective for relieving symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, as reported in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

165

Researchers have characterized a complex, little-understood receptor type that, when activated, shuts off hunger. The findings may open up opportunities to fight obesity at the cellular level.

6852

A rare mutation among the Bajau people lets them stay underwater longer: natural selection at the PDE10A gene has increased spleen size in the Bajau, providing them with a larger reservoir of oxygenated red blood cells.

42396

Half the Coral in the Great Barrier Reef Has Died Since 2016 (paper sourced in article)

17

Researchers discover Autistic children inherit rare damaging noncoding variants from fathers but not mothers

37

A new study has confirmed that Hans Asperger, the Austrian pediatrician for whom a form of autism is named, collaborated with the Nazis and actively assisted in the killing of disabled children

40

A macque study finds a potential non-hormonal, fully reversible, and short-lived pharmacological male contraceptive that works through inhibition of sperm motility

15

Scientists discover mechanism behind motor neurone disease

7

Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Romaine Lettuce

14

In preclinical tests, researchers showed how a new compound can immobilize sperm temporarily without side effects

7

A common belief is that good-looking people also earn more money. But a new study turns this theory on its head. Researchers have found that people who are "very unattractive" may be the biggest earners, based on data from a study of 20,000 young Americans.

12

Acupuncture eases drug addiction withdrawal symptoms by activating peripheral nervous system, which stimulates neurons that restore dopamine levels.

18

An unprecedented wave of large-mammal extinctions is linked to prehistoric humans. Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and other recent human relatives hunted large mammal species to extinction. The magnitude and scale of the extinction wave surpasses any other recorded during the last 66 million years.

13

Scientist Can Now Stretch and Deform Diamonds

9

Scores of plant species are capable of living dormant under the soil for up to 20 years, enabling them to survive through difficult times

10

Associations of Prenatal and Child Sugar Intake With Child Cognition

534

A prototype early warning system for the four most common types of cancer makes a visible mole appear on the skin when calcium levels indicate a tumor has developed.

1981

Doctors who prescribe homeopathy ignore other medical guidelines, finds new study which looked at all the 7618 primary care practices in England.

1848

MIT engineers have developed a continuous manufacturing process that produces long strips of high-quality graphene. The team’s results are the first demonstration of an industrial, scalable method for manufacturing high-quality graphene.

5

Study: GMO Food Labels Could Burden Low-Income Consumers

28073

New drug uses antibodies to stop chronic migraines by blocking the neural pathway that sends pain signals to the brain during a migraine. Phase III trials on about 1,000 subjects are complete now and there are already plans for it to be approved by the FDA.

912

Due to climate change the niche of giant trees is projected to increase by ~4 million km2 globally - "Our results imply that strategic management could in principle facilitate the expansion of giant forests, securing critically endangered biodiversity as well as carbon storage."

188

New microscope creates 3D movies of cells in living organisms. "It's like Star Trek" say Harvard researchers.

2

Molecular Evolution at a Meiosis Gene Mediates Species Differences in the Rate and Patterning of Recombination

2956

Alzheimer’s Disease Starts in Childhood, with Symptoms Found in Babies Less Than a Year Old study in Metropolitan Mexico City finds . APOE4 carriers have higher suicide risk and higher odds of reaching NFT stage V at ? 40 years of age

2

Scientists Discover How to Bend and Stretch Diamonds—the Hardest Natural Material

477

Oil spills could be soaked up by a new floating substance that combines waste from the petroleum industry and cooking oil. The new polymer acted like a sponge to remove crude oil and diesel from seawater. The polymer can be squeezed to remove the oil and then reused.

126

Superionic ice has been created in the lab for the first time. The ultra-conductive version of ice, which accounts for 60% of Uranus and Neptune, was formed by compressing ice to 25,000 times the atmospheric pressure felt at sea level. The resulting ice was sixty times denser than regular water.

147

Cold Temp Exposure Causes Epigenetic Changes in Fat Cells

146

Researchers found that simply being told that a performer is a professional or a student changes the way the brain responds to music. They also found that overcoming this bias took a deliberate effort.

1674

Americans waste 150,000 tons of food each day – equal to a pound per person. USDA research shows people with healthy diets rich in fruit and vegetables are the most wasteful.

70

Male fruit flies enjoy ejaculation. Fly brains showed increased signs of a rewarding experience after ejaculating, even with no females present.

32

In an example of recent human evolution, scientists find free divers from Southeast Asia evolved bigger spleens, thought to give them greater endurance when holding their breaths.

91

Bold and Aggressive Behavior Means Birds Thrive in Cities

58

Mars' tiny moons (Phobos and Deimos) formed after proto-Mars collided with a dwarf-planet-sized object, finds new study.

132

A stunning cure for one of the world's most devastating blood diseases: A pioneering gene therapy vanquishes beta thalassemia in a pivotal clinical trial.

28

Drowning caused 80% of deaths from Hurricane Harvey. Study finds 78% of those deaths occurred outside zones designated as being at higher risk for flooding. US authorities outline floodplains for 100 and 500 year floods that had a 1% and 0.2% probability respectively of occurring in any given year.