How to Tell whether a Cancer Is Caused by Plain Bad Luck

Sponsored by

    

May 02, 2022

Dear Reader, When is a cancer caused by exposure to a toxin in the environment, and when is it just plain bad luck? A new study investigates this question, which has big implications for how we prevent and treat this scourge of diseases. Also, how to tell whether you should get a second COVID booster shot depending on your personal and community risk levels.

Tanya Lewis, Senior Editor, Health & Medicine

Cancer How to Tell whether a Cancer Is Caused by Plain Bad Luck A new study offers a possible answer to the question "Why me?" By Viviane Callier

Vaccines Here's Who Should Get a Second COVID Booster An individual's health risks, treatment access and local case levels come into play for those who are eligible By Esther Landhuis

Public Health New Antiobesity Drugs Help People Shed Dozens of Pounds, but They Must Be Taken for a Lifetime Injectable weight-loss medicines reduce appetite but raise questions of long-term safety and affordability By Claudia Wallis

Sponsor Content Provided by ATCC Cancer Research and Development Tools ATCC produces the biomaterials that you need for drug screening, tumor mechanism, immune-oncology, and diagnostic development studies. We provide organoids, luciferase-expressing reporter cell lines, isogenic CRISPR/Cas9 genome-edited cell lines, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition reporter cells for your cutting-edge cancer research.

Animals Mosquitoes See Red (Literally) when They Smell Human Breath The insects target red tones when they are exposed to carbon dioxide By Niko McCarty

Genetics Dogs' Personalities Aren't Determined by Their Breed A new genetic study shows generalizing breeds as affectionate or aggressive doesn't hold up By Jack Tamisiea

Microbiology Kitchen Sponges Help Breed Bacteria Better There's a structural reason your sponge hosts so many microbes By Joanna Thompson

Conservation The Scientists Fighting for Parasite Conservation Parasites play an outsize role in balancing ecosystems, and some species may be in danger By Rachel Nuwer

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Print & Digital Subscription For $34.99 a year, your Print & Digital Subscription includes monthly delivery of print issues and is accessible on all of your devices via the web and Android and iOS apps.

QUOTE OF THE DAY "If you can quickly boost a bunch of people at the cusp of a surge, you might be able to flatten that curve." Melanie Swift, physician and co-chair of the COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation and Distribution Work Group at the Mayo Clinic

ADVERTISEMENT

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us