Evolution Observed in Fish in a Single Generation
Theories of evolution were developed without an understanding of genetics, and while our ability to study genes has advanced tremendously, those advancements have happened only in the past few decades. That has left evolution largely unstudied experimentally outside of microorganisms. Since bacteria can rapidly …
New Insight Into HIV Opens Path to Better Therapeutics
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has killed an estimated 32 million people, and around 37.9 million people are currently infected, according to the World Health Organization. While there are good treatments for the infection, not everyone can access them and it continues to pose a serious public health …
Does Poor Sleep Lead to Obesity, or is the Opposite True?
For many years, researchers have been aware of the link between obesity and poor sleep or a lack of sleep. It’s been thought that poor sleep can lead to weight gain and obesity; sleep restriction has been shown to increase appetite, hunger, and food consumption. New work reported in PLOS Biology has now …
Using Wastewater to Identify COVID-19 Hotspots
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is now known to have infected over 2.7 million individuals and killed at least 194,000. We are still learning about this virus, which only emerged in the past few months. But, we know that it’s highly contagious and that it has probably infected many more people than we’re aware of …