Malcolm Ritter, Author at Valley News

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 23, 2017 file photo, activists dressed as characters from "The Handmaid's Tale" chant in the Texas Capitol Rotunda as they protest SB8, a bill that would require health care facilities, including hospitals and abortion clinics, to bury or cremate any fetal remains whether from abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth, and they would be banned from donating aborted fetal tissue to medical researchers in Austin. Tissue left over from elective abortions has been used in scientific research for decades, and is credited with leading to lifesaving vaccines and other advances. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Scientists feel chill of crackdown on fetal tissue research

by Lauran Neergaard Associated Press, Malcolm Ritter Associated Press, and Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar Associated PressJune 8, 2019

To save babies from brain-damaging birth defects, University of Pittsburgh scientist Carolyn Coyne studies placentas from fetuses that otherwise would be discarded — and she’s worried this kind of research is headed for the chopping block.The Trump…

This combination of images provided by the Yale School of Medicine in April 2019 shows stained microscope photos of neurons, green; astrocytes, red, and cell nuclei, blue, from a pig brain left untreated for 10 hours after death, left, and another with a specially designed blood substitute pumped through it. By medical standards “this is not a living brain,” said Nenad Sestan of the Yale School of Medicine, one of the researchers reporting the results Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in the journal Nature. But the work revealed a surprising degree of resilience within a brain that has lost its supply of blood and oxygen, he said. (Stefano G. Daniele, Zvonimir Vrselja/Sestan Laboratory/Yale School of Medicine)

Scientists spur some activity in brains of slaughtered pigs

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterApril 17, 2019

FILE - This Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 photo shows Shelley, an adopted cat, at its new home in Philadelphia. A study released on Thursday, April 4, 2019, suggests house cats respond to the sound of their own names. Researchers said it’s the first experimental evidence that cats can distinguish between words people say. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Meow hear this: Study says cats react to sound of their name

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterApril 4, 2019

A scientist at the NY Genome Center in New York demonstrates equipment used in single-cell RNA analysis on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. Until recently, trying to study key traits of cells from people and other animals often meant analyzing bulk samples of tissue, producing an average of results from many cell types. But scientists have developed techniques that let them directly study the DNA codes, and its chemical cousin RNA, the activity of genes and other traits of individual cells. (AP Photo/Malcolm Ritter)

Scientists zero in on individual cells

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterMarch 4, 2019

In this undated photo provided by researcher Alex Jordan in February 2019, a cleaner wrasse interacts with its reflection in a mirror placed on the outside of the aquarium glass. The mirror itself cannot be seen in this photo because the aquarium glass itself becomes reflective at the viewing angle of the camera, but the fish sees the aquarium glass as transparent because of its direct viewing angle. In a report released on Thursday, Feb 7, 2019, scientists say that 10 fish they studied can pass a standard test of recognizing themselves in a mirror _ and that is posing a key question for experts in animal mental prowess. Does this 50-year-old test for self-awareness in animals really show that ability? (Alex Jordan via AP)

Fish pass mirror test, but does it mean they’re self-aware?

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterFebruary 7, 2019

FILE - In this Friday, April 27, 2018 file photo, Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, who authorities suspect is the "Golden State Killer" responsible for at least a dozen murders and 50 rapes in the 1970s and 80s, is accompanied by Sacramento County Public Defender Diane Howard, right, during his arraignment in Sacramento County Superior Court in Sacramento, Calif. Authorities said they used a genetic genealogy website to connect some crime-scene DNA to DeAngelo. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Study: DNA Sites Cast Broad Net for IDing People

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterOctober 11, 2018

Kendra Snyder, right, talks with patrons at Checkers Bar & Grill in Mount Union, Pa., on Monday, July 16, 2018. At age 12, Snyder passed out from a condition where her heart was missing over 1,000 beats every day. She had heart surgery for it when she turned 20, and doctors said the problem seemed to be fixed. Her cardiologist wanted to know whether her condition was inherited or not, so genetic tests where done. In March, Kendra was told her testing was inconclusive. She realized she shouldn’t stress over it, because doing so would reduce her quality of life. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Gene Tests Can Provide Health Clues — and Needless Worry

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterJuly 20, 2018

This image provided by the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program shows artifacts found in southern Kenya's Olorgesailie Basin. For hundreds of the thousands of years, people living there made and used large stone-cutting tools called handaxes, left. At right are more sophisticated tools, found in the same area, which were carefully crafted and more specialized than the large, all-purpose handaxes. (Smithsonian - Human Origins Program via AP)

Tools From Kenya Hint at Behavior

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterMarch 15, 2018

In this undated photo provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, cloned monkeys Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua sit together with a fabric toy. For the first time, researchers have used the cloning method that produced Dolly the sheep to create two healthy monkeys, potentially bringing scientists closer to being able to do that with humans. (Sun Qiang and Poo Muming/Chinese Academy of Sciences via AP)

Monkey Cloning Is a Success

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterJanuary 24, 2018

In this August 2013 photo provided by the University of Alaska, excavators work at the Upward Sun River discovery site in Alaska. According to a report released on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, DNA from an infant who died in Alaska some 11,500 years ago, found at this site, is giving scientists the best look yet at the genetics of the ancestors of today’s native peoples of the Americas. (Ben Potter/University of Alaska via AP)

Ancient DNA Gives Glimpse of Ancestors

by Malcolm Ritter AP Science WriterJanuary 4, 2018