Life Science

From the smallest microbe to the largest mammal, Life Science explores the origins, evolution and expansion of life in all its forms. Explore a wide range of topics from biology to genetics and evolution.

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Hair loss affects millions of Americans -- men, women and even children. That's why a recent gene therapy study from a research group at the University of Pennsylvania has many people excited.

By Jacob Silverman

A man in Cornwall, England, went 11 consecutive days without a wink of sleep. Find out how he did it, why he did it and why you shouldn't give it a try.

By Jacob Silverman

The human body is composed of about 10 trillion cells. Everything from reproduction to infections to repairing a broken bone happens down at the cellular level. Find out all about cells.

By Marshall Brain

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS is back in the news. A second case has been confirmed in China in the southern province of Guangdong. Learn about this potentially lethal condition.

By Katherine Neer

Alcoholism can be difficult to spot. Learn the difference between heavy drinking and alcoholism, how alcohol affects the body, what factors may lead to alcoholism and what treatments are available for this addiction.

By Stephanie Watson

What exactly is fear? In this article, we'll examine the psychological and physical properties of fear, find out what causes a fear response and look at some ways you can defeat it.

By Julia Layton

Twins are unique people who are also eerily similar to each other. Do twins really have ESP? Learn how twinning happens and what types of twins are out there.

By Katherine Neer

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Poison ivy is often very difficult to spot. But if you come into contact with it, you'll soon know by the itchy, blistery rash that forms on your skin. Learn how poison ivy causes that rash, and how to get rid of it.

By Stephanie Wilson

If you've kept up with the news lately, you've probably heard dire warnings about avian flu, or bird flu. In this article, we'll review the basics of how viruses and influenza work, and we'll learn the answers to these and other questions about avian flu, including whether it is likely to cause a global flu epidemic.

By Tracy V. Wilson

While most flu sufferers moan and groan for about a week and then return to work, the flu season creates more than just discomfort and a costly loss of work days.

By Stephanie Watson

We hear about them on the news and we listen to politicians argue for and against them using them to treat disease. Learn all about stem cells and the research, challenges and controversy that surround them.

By Stephanie Watson & Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

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Dozens of people are frozen in cryogenic storage facilities, waiting to be revived when science is able to cure whatever killed them. But if they're dead, is revival from a frozen state even possible? Find out.

By Stephanie Watson

Dreams combine verbal, visual and emotional stimuli into mystifying storylines. Should we bother to interpret them? Are they random brain impulses, or do they offer insight into our waking lives?

By Lee Ann Obringer & Yves Jeffcoat

Ever since I took biology in high school I have wondered -- why do humans (and plants and animals) have two of every gene, and why is one "dominant" and the other "recessive"? How does my body know which one is dominant? How does it pick between the

Evolution is fascinating because it attempts to answer one of the most basic human questions: Where did life, and human beings, come from? The theory of evolution proposes that life and humans arose through a natural process.

By Marshall Brain

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The physical you is a result of your DNA, and your DNA is part of the human gene pool. Find out what the "gene pool" really is and what happens when it shrinks.

By Marshall Brain

HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 35 million lives so far.

By Kevin Bonsor & Oisin Curran

Whether brain death is a result of cardiac arrest and lack of oxygen to the brain, or of a gunshot wound to the head, the diagnosis is the same. Learn what the term "brain dead" actually means.

By Leslie C. Olson

You won't find some of history's biggest killers on this list, but you will find at least one disease that will make you want to bite something and another that might make you break out in "elevated pustules." Curious yet?

By Garth Sundem

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Did you know that elements of your genetic code are patented? Companies and researchers can actually lay claim to sequences of genetic code. Is that as scary as it sounds?

By Michael Franco

Most people would recall every detail of being held up in a bank robbery but not so well the details of their last birthday party. The brain is wired for recalling trauma for a very good reason.

By Colleen Cancio

Where did humans come from? How did they migrate throughout the globe? Thanks to a longstanding anthropological concept and an unexpected discovery, conventional wisdom on human migration may be irrevocably shattered.

By Josh Clark

Pollen grains are, in essence, plant sperm. But how do the grains get where they need to go, and what's the advantage of trusting your genetic future to the winds?

By Jessika Toothman

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Aristotle defined hate as a dislike so intense that whoever feels it wants to cause another person real harm. What is going on in our brains when we hate? And can hate ever be a good thing?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Urushiol is the active chemical in poison ivy. Learn more about urushiol and how to properly remove poison ivy.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors