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Should scientists let the public help them decide how government research funds are spent? Yes they should, because the consequences are to be welcomed, not feared.
Antibiotics are failing and drug companies have all but stopped developing new ones. Will conquered diseases come back to haunt us? Martin Leeb examines one plan to avert the crisis.
Employing genetic diagnosis to avoid having a baby with a disability is controversial enough. But a minority of deaf people would consider testing to ensure that they had a deaf child. Carina Dennis finds out why.
Just over three years ago, it was announced that a first draft of the human genome sequence had been completed. Gaps and errors remained, but the job of fixing those problems is now largely done.
The genome of a second pufferfish species has been sequenced. Why is this important? Because comparing this genome with that of other animals yields a wealth of information on genome evolution.
According to a prediction of general relativity, the spinning mass of the Earth affects the motion of satellites. A measurement of this ‘frame-dragging’ effect confirms Einstein's theory.
The discovery of a protein that regulates the production of antibody-generating B cells has implications for our understanding of how cancers of the immune system develop — and how they might be treated.
Data from Europe in 1940–42, and simulations of severe El Niño events, suggest that the effects of such events can be unexpectedly far-reaching. The stratosphere could be a key player in this behaviour.