Chickens genetically modified to prevent them spreading bird flu have been produced by researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh.

Scientists have for the first time sequenced and reconstructed the genomes of most of the microbes in the gut of a premature newborn and documented how the microbe populations changed over time.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center researchers have discovered a previously unknown feature of common tumor cells – massive overexpression of certain DNA sequences that do not code for proteins. These DNA sequences – called satellite repeats – have been studied for their role in chromosomal structure but previously were not suspected of having a role in cancer. The report will appear in the journal Science and is receiving early online release.

A research team from across the United States and Ecuador has pinpointed 1898 as the year the avipoxvirus, or avian pox, hit the Galapagos Islands and started infecting its birds. This estimation is vital to understanding avian diseases that affect today's Galapagos birds. The scientists' paper on the subject, "110 Years of Avipoxvirus on the Galapagos Islands," will be published on January 13 in PLoS ONE, an international, open-access science publication.