The Trump administration and a company that is promising to bring long-gone animals back from extinction announced a partnership on Thursday to preserve cells, tissue and DNA from threatened and endangered species.

The company, Colossal Biosciences, said its goal was to store samples from every animal and plant protected under the Endangered Species Act, which includes more than 2,300 listings worldwide.

Continue reading “Trump Administration Moves to Preserve Cells and DNA of Imperiled Species” →

Since April, an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ballooned to 1,114 confirmed cases and 279 deaths, already the third-largest such epidemic since the disease was identified 50 years ago.

Despite its worrying size, this outbreak is threaded with mystery — particularly regarding its origins.

The cause is a little-known pathogen called Bundibugyo virus, one of three viral species known to cause Ebola disease. Scientists favor the idea that the virus normally dwells in animals, jumping the species barrier every now and then to cause an outbreak among people.

Continue reading “The Ebola Outbreak’s Central Mystery: Where Did This Virus Come From?” →

Linsey Marr, an environmental engineer, stood next to a pair of clear plastic boxes packed with tubes, nozzles and electronics, an odd-looking prototype that one day might serve to protect children in day care from airborne pathogens.

A nozzle filled the right-hand box with a faint silvery mist. A pump pulled some of that air into the left-hand box, where a sampler trapped floating particles and droplets. Soon, a digital screen bolted to the box turned red: “Detected! Dust mite allergen Der f 1.”

Continue reading “Buildings May Soon Have ‘Immune Systems’ That Fight Airborne Disease” →