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Getting Codons Right

Jun 15, 2007

A recent paper published in PloS ONE from a team of scientists at the University of Maryland presents research that might aid in smarter, and more targeted, drug design. Jonathan Dinman and team (one is a high school student!) have found the difference between near-cognate and non-cognate codons, two related components of mRNA that were defined but never described.

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.