The Broad Institute announced April 15 that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued the first patent for an engineered CRISPR-Cas9 system that is enabling scientists to modify genes and better understand the biology of living cells and organisms. The institute applied for the patent in concert with the January 3, 2013 publication in Science (Cong, et al.) that described the use of the CRISPR enzyme, Cas9, for genome editing.

Inexpensive computers, cell phones, and other systems that substitute flexible plastic for silicon chips may be one step closer to reality, thanks to new research published in the journal Nature Communications.

For fear of retaliation, birds accept and raise brood parasites’ young

Scientists at the Salk Institute have created a new model of memory that explains how neurons retain select memories a few hours after an event.

On the scale of earth-friendly materials, you’d be hard pressed to find two that are farther apart than polyester (not at all) and cork (very). In an unexpected twist, however, scientists are figuring out how to extract a natural, waterproof, antibacterial version of the first material from the latter.

Properly storing hazardous chemicals is an important part of many labs’ safety programs. But you wouldn’t expect it to be an issue in someone’s home. However, that’s just what firefighters discovered in a house in Seattle April 8 while giving one of the home’s residents a hand walking down his stairs, according to a USA Today article.

Study in Nature shows wide variation in the collection of bacteria harbored by healthy adult.

Porous silicon manufactured in a bottom-up procedure using solar energy can be used to generate hydrogen from water, according to a team of Penn State mechanical engineers, who also see applications for batteries, biosensors and optical electronics as outlets for this new material.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recommendations for treating water after a natural disaster or other emergencies call for more chlorine bleach than is necessary to kill disease-causing pathogens and are often impractical to carry out, a new study has found.

Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered that a protein produced by the influenza A virus helps it outwit one of our body's natural defense mechanisms. That makes the protein a potentially good target for antiviral drugs directed against the influenza A virus.