Microbes
Explainer: Virus variants and strains
When viruses become more infectious or better able to survive the body’s immune system, they become a type of variant known as a strain.
By Janet Raloff
HS-LS3-2
Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
More Stories in HS-LS3-2
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Health & MedicineOne key change may have helped the coronavirus become a global menace
One key mutation may have helped the virus behind COVID-19 better infect human cells.
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LifeThese rabbits can’t hop. A gene defect makes them do handstands
Mutations in a gene that helps nerve cells work properly rob rabbits of their ability to hop. Instead, the animals use their front paws to move.
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AnimalsScience and Indigenous history team up to help spirit bears
When scientists and Indigenous people work together, their efforts can benefit bears and people.
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Health & MedicineBringing COVID-19 vaccines to much of world is hard
The price of not vaccinating nearly everyone across the world could be a longer pandemic and more troubling variants of the new coronavirus.
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HumansBy not including everyone, genome science has blind spots
Little diversity in genetic databases makes precision medicine hard for many. One historian proposes a solution, but some scientists doubt it’ll work.
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Health & MedicineSome young adults will volunteer to get COVID-19 for science
Researchers will soon give some healthy people the new coronavirus. Their young volunteers have agreed to get sick to speed coronavirus research.
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AnimalsHow do you build a centaur?
A centaur has the torso of a human and the body of a horse. It may sound cool, but it wouldn’t work very well.
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SpaceSpace travel may harm health by damaging cells’ powerhouses
Biochemical changes after going to space suggest that harm to cells’ energy-producing structures, called mitochondria, could explain astronauts’ health issues.
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HumansSome identical twins don’t have the exact same DNA
Identical twins may not be exactly identical. Mutations may arise early in development that account for tiny genetic differences between siblings.