How new loops in DNA packaging help us make diverse antibodies

It's long been known that our immune cells mix and match bits of genetic code to make new kinds of antibodies to fight newly encountered threats. But how these different gene segments come together has been a mystery. A study provides the answer, showing how the classic process of V(D)J recombination makes use of chromatin looping to gather the segments to be spliced.

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Addressing serious illness with a serious question to clinicians

A question: 'Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next month?' — posed to elicit a clinician's overall impression of a patient — produced a strong correlation. If a clinician answered that they would not be surprised, the patient was twice as likely to die in the next month.

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