Stories by Sara Reardon

Sixty-year-old ampoule contains smallpox DNA, and it is unclear whether the virus is viable.

A solution that protects rat livers from freezing could extend the transplant window for human organs

Stress hormones break up bacterial biofilms, potentially dispersing plaque deposits into the bloodstream

The use of viruses that kill bacteria as a tool for treating infections are under study again by Western researchers and governments

The ruling acknowledges the inherent variability in IQ scores and their margin of error

Large pharmaceutical companies are eyeing the therapeutic potential that can result from microbiome research, beyond the use of fecal transplants

The director of the agency's Center for Regenerative Medicine resigned on March 28 after just one clinical-trial award had been made

A computer program crudely predicts facial structure from genetic variations

The U.S. BRAIN Initiative and European Human Brain Project research programs will begin collaborating later this year

The National Institute of Mental Health will no longer fund research aiming to relieve symptoms without probing underlying causes

The approach involves using enzymes to destroy a gene in the immune cells of people with HIV, thereby increasing resistance to the virus

With Congress unlikely to approve tax-based boosts for science, agency funding hopes are dashed

The Supreme Court will soon grapple with the science of how intellectual disability is measured. The arguments will bear on applying the death penalty to people who don't understand the legal process

Two federal agencies aim to set standards for crime labs

Findings support idea that the gut's microbiome has a role

"Positive-to-positive" transplants would create new pool of donors for infected patients

Budget woes have prompted cuts to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and Protein Structure Initiative, and brought scrutiny overall to expensive programs

Infants's resistance to infections is suppressed to prevent inflammation from bacterial colonization

Improved treatments offer hope for eradication of these viral liver infections

Overflowing in-boxes and confusion greet relieved researchers after the 16-day partial government shutdown

Vancomycin treated with a fluorescent dye allows real-time imaging of bacterial growth

Experiments suffer from a lack of lab materials and staff during the partial government shutdown

Government researchers are barred from their own labs during the shutdown, and they cannot travel to conferences