It typically takes a year to produce hydrocodone from plants, but researchers have genetically modified yeast to make it in just a few days. The technique could improve access to medicines in impoverished nations.
An unusual mutation in an immune system gene switches a receptor from one target molecule to another. It's the first known example of such a change, say Stanford researchers, and likely leads to safer pregnancies.
Gray matter volume and connections between several brain regions better forecast 8-year-olds' acquisition of math skills than their performance on standard math tests.
A new technique could eventually enable doctors to diagnose genetic heart diseases by rapidly scanning more than 85 genes known to cause cardiac anomalies.
Mutations in immune cells prevented their natural death in roughly half of the cell samples from patients with the incurable cancer, and suggest drug targets for the disease.
Scientists found that when two protein structures in the brain join up, they act as an amplifier for a slight increase in calcium concentration, triggering a gunshot-like release of neurotransmitters from one neuron to another.
Lane Medical Library has developed a search tool that finds medical images on the Web and groups them based on how broad or restrictive their reuse rights are.