Everyone discusses ways to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere (or not) but less considered is that there is a massive storehouse of carbon that has the potential to significantly alter the climate change picture. 

Ancient carbon, locked away in Arctic permafrost for thousands of years, could transformed into carbon dioxide and released into the atmosphere by warmth. 

The first malaria vaccine candidate (RTS,S/AS01) to reach phase 3 clinical testing is partially effective against clinical disease in young African children up to 4 years after vaccination, according to final trial data published in The Lancet.

Science topics in culture, be they vaccines, GMOs or global warming, may seem to be about science but they are more about politics, including identity politics, and sometimes about economics. 

Nonetheless, only one of those topics is hot in academia - ironically, the reason for that is also political. An impartial analysis of Congressional testimonies shows that, politics or not, most of the experts that the Republican majority requests to speak during hearings support the consensus on climate change - which means resistance to taking action is not because they are against science, it is just economics. 

In 2012 the US saw a resurgence of pertussis (whooping cough) cases. the highest since 1955. Like in engineering, the reason a small increase in anti-science beliefs can lead to a big change in the number of cases comes down to degrees of freedom and the math of networks.

Human DNA accumulates damage over time and older bodies can't repair it as well as younger, leading to the obvious conclusion that damage builds up over time and leads to an irreversible dormant state known as senescence.

Cellular senescence is believed to be responsible for some of the telltale signs of aging, such as weakened bones, less resilient skin and slow-downs in organ function. DNA damage also seems to play a role in conditions called progerias, which cause premature aging. Progeria patients have mutations in genes responsible for DNA damage repair. Now researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have pinpointed a molecular link between DNA damage, cellular senescence and premature aging. 

A proof-of-concept study in mice showed it is possible to prevent transmission of mitochondrial disease to children without resorting to controversial cytoplasmic transfer - "three-parent" IVF.

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouse of the cell because they generate most of the cell's supply of energy. Each cell in the body contains anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 copies of mitochondrial DNA, which is exclusively transmitted through maternal inheritance. In most patients with mitochondrial disease, mutated and normal mitochondrial DNA molecules are mixed together in cells.