Stories by Ewen Callaway

A genetic change that evolved from ancient wolves can help make dogs giant or small

The rapid spread of new variants such as Omicron offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 is adapting and how the pandemic will play out over the next several months

The rapid spread of new variants such as Omicron offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 is adapting and how the pandemic will play out over the next several months

Researchers are racing to determine whether a fast-spreading coronavirus variant poses a threat to COVID vaccines’ effectiveness

Partial SARS-CoV-2 sequences from early outbreaks in Wuhan were removed from a U.S. government database by the scientists who deposited them

Preliminary results from a trial of more than 600 people are the first to show the benefits of combining different vaccines

Researchers race to determine why variants identified in Britain and South Africa spread so quickly and whether they’ll compromise vaccines

Google’s deep-learning program for determining the 3-D shapes of proteins stands to transform biology, scientists say

Preliminary data show that the immunization is 94 percent effective and seems to prevent severe infections

Proponents of the trials say they can be run safely and help to identify effective vaccines, but others have questioned their value

The immunization could be dangerous because it hasn’t been tested in large trials, researchers say

Scientists urge caution over hints of success emerging from small human and animal studies

Support grows for a controversial ‘human challenge’ vaccine study—but no trial is yet planned

Some experts warn that accelerated testing will involve risky trade-offs

A genetic analysis suggests a reptilian reservoir, but researchers doubt the coronavirus could have originated in animals other than birds or mammals

Paleontologists have charted 300 million years of Earth’s history in breathtaking detail

A U.K. study provides the best evidence yet that the way infants are born can alter their microbiome—but the health effects are unclear

The prizes honored the discoverers of B and T cells, the inventors of a breast cancer treatment, and a vaccination NGO

The CRISPR technique can trigger the new material to release drugs or pick up biological signals

Experiments in mice suggest the technology has a long way to go before being used for pest control in the wild

DNA analysis suggests the self-cloning species is a genetic hybrid that emerged in an aquarium in the 1990s

Engineered organisms that cannot breed with wild counterparts could prevent transgenic plants from spreading genes

Genetic information about African rhinos is leading to stiffer convictions

Expanded genetic alphabet could allow for the production of new protein-based drugs