The first large study of North American wolf genomes has found that there is only one species on the continent: the gray wolf. Two other purported species, the Eastern wolf and the red wolf, are mixes of gray wolf and coyote DNA, the scientists behind the study concluded.

The finding, announced Wednesday, highlights the shortcomings of laws intended to protect endangered species, as such laws lag far behind scientific research into the evolution of species.

The gray wolf and red wolf were listed as endangered in the lower 48 states under the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s and remain protected today, to the periodic consternation of ranchers and agricultural interests.

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The brain looks like a featureless expanse of folds and bulges, but it’s actually carved up into invisible territories. Each is specialized: Some groups of neurons become active when we recognize faces, others when we read, others when we raise our hands.

On Wednesday, in what many experts are calling a milestone in neuroscience, researchers published a spectacular new map of the brain, detailing nearly 100 previously unknown regions — an unprecedented glimpse into the machinery of the human mind.

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A fecal transplant is exactly what it sounds like: To treat certain gut disorders, doctors transfer stool from a healthy donor to a sick patient.

Just a few years ago, only a few doctors turned to fecal transplants, typically as a last resort. But in randomized trials, the procedure has proved remarkably effective against potentially fatal infections of bacteria known as Clostridium difficile.

The evidence has overwhelmed any squeamishness that physicians might have felt. “We’re doing this treatment almost weekly,” said Dr. Harry Sokol, a gastroenterologist at Saint-Antoine Hospital AP-HP in Paris.

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Our genes are not just naked stretches of DNA.

They’re coiled into intricate three-dimensional tangles, their lengths decorated with tiny molecular “caps.” These so-called epigenetic marks are crucial to the workings of the genome: They can silence some genes and activate others.

Epigenetic marks are crucial for our development. Among other functions, they direct a single egg to produce the many cell types, including blood and brain cells, in our bodies. But some high-profile studies have recently suggested something more: that the environment can change your epigenetic marks later in life, and that those changes can have long-lasting effects on health.

Continue reading “Growing Pains for Field of Epigenetics as Some Call for Overhaul” →