Tina Saey

1 month ago | sciencenews.org | Tina Saey

The death of a second child from measles is raising alarm bells anew that an ongoing outbreak of the highly contagious disease is larger than official numbers suggest. And it comes at a time when the Trump administration’s widespread cuts to public health funding and jobs are gutting the ability to tackle infectious diseases. The child, who died April 3 from measles pulmonary failure, was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions, Texas health officials announced April 6.

1 month ago | sciencenews.org | Tina Saey

At 6 a.m. on March 25, Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services department, got a devastating email. Millions of dollars in federal grants that the health agency had were suddenly gone. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had just rescinded about $12 billion from thousands of state and local health agencies, including Huang’s.

1 month ago | sciencenews.org | Tina Saey

Such electric spikes are a surprise because only nerve cells were thought to communicate this way. These signals move at a snail’s pace compared to nerve impulses and can be detected at least 500 micrometers away — about the distance of 40 cells — researchers report in the March 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The pulsing electrical waves may help injured cells’ neighbors prepare to heal wounds.

1 month ago | sciencenews.org | Tina Saey

A newly discovered bacterial weapon against fungi can kill even drug-resistant strains, raising hopes for a new antifungal drug. Fungal infections have been spreading rapidly and widely in recent years, fueled in part by climate change. Some fungi, including Candida auris, have developed resistance to some highly effective antifungal drugs which have been in use for decades. So scientists have been searching for new drugs to keep fungi in check.

1 month ago | sciencenews.org | Tina Saey

A genetic data giant is falling, and it’s unclear what will happen to millions of people’s most intimate personal information in the aftermath. On March 23, DNA testing company 23andMe announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a move intended to facilitate its sale — along with the genetic data of over 15 million customers worldwide. A bankruptcy court hearing is set to begin March 26.