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That Lead-Lined Coffin May Turn Out to Be a Life Saver

Sep 16, 2008

The quest to stave off a potential flu pandemic has led scientists to Sir Mark Sykes, a Brit who died from the Spanish flu 89 years ago, reports the BBC. The aristocrat's grandkids have authorized researchers to exhume the body, which was buried in a lead coffin, to search for viral DNA.

 

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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.