So there's this result from a lab at Princeton which shows that rats fed high-fructose corn syrup (henceforth HFCS) display metabolic diseases associated with obesity. (Princeton press office, via Shakesville)
"These rats aren't just getting fat; they're demonstrating characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal fat and ( Read more... )

Some researchers at Scripps Research Institute have successfully induced RNA enzymes to reproduce and compete -- so successfully, in fact, that three populations of new mutants showed up in the soup that outcompeted their original designed versions. Srsly.

Go check it out.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/01/replicatingrna.html

(original paper ( Read more... )