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A Dollop More

A draft bill before a US Senate spending panel would, if passed, raise the budget of the National Institutes of Health by 2 percent, ScienceInsider reports.

This would increase the agency's budget by some $605.7 million to $30.5 billion for fiscal year 2015. And, ScienceInsider points out, is greater than the $211 million increase requested by the Obama administration.

Additionally, the panel approved $100 million in funds requested by President Obama for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovation (BRAIN) Initiative to map and study the brain as well as increase the budget for the National Institute of Aging by $100 million. The panel also reinstated funding cut from the Institutional Development Awards program due to the sequester.

The bill moves before the full spending committee on Thursday, ScienceInsider adds.

The Scan

ChatGPT Does As Well As Humans Answering Genetics Questions, Study Finds

Researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics had ChatGPT answer genetics-related questions, finding it was about 68 percent accurate, but sometimes gave different answers to the same question.

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Researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution find gene regulatory network differences between soldiers and foragers, suggesting bees can take on either role.

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