A scientific breakthrough has expanded the way genetic information can be stored. STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- All of life as we know it on Earth -- pigs, pandas, fish, bacteria and everything else -- has genetic information encoded in the same way, with the same biological alphabet. Now, for the first time, scientists have shown it is possible to alter that alphabet and still have a living organism that passes on the genetic information. They reported their findings in the journal Nature. "This is the first experimental demonstration that life can exist with information that's not coded the way nature does (it)," said Floyd Romesberg, associate professor of chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Medicine can greatly benefit from this discovery, Romesberg said. There's potential for better antibiotics and treatments for a slew of diseases for which drug development has been challenging, including cancers. The findings also suggest that DNA as we know it on Earth may not be the only solution to coding for life, Romesberg said. There may be other organisms elsewhere in space that use genetic letters we have never seen -- or that don't use DNA at all. "Is this alien life? … Continue reading →

(CNN) - All of life as we know it on Earth -- pigs, pandas, fish, bacteria and everything else -- has genetic information encoded in the same way, with the same biological alphabet. Now, for the first time, scientists have shown it is possible to alter that alphabet and still have a living organism that passes on the genetic information. They reported their findings in the journal Nature. "This is the first experimental demonstration that life can exist with information that's not coded the way nature does (it)," said Floyd Romesberg, associate professor of chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Medicine can greatly benefit from this discovery, Romesberg said. There's potential for better antibiotics and treatments for a slew of diseases for which drug development has been challenging, including cancers. The findings also suggest that DNA as we know it on Earth may not be the only solution to coding for life, Romesberg said. There may be other organisms elsewhere in space that use genetic letters we have never seen -- or that don't use DNA at all. "Is this alien life? No," he said. "Does it suggest that there could be other ways of storing … Continue reading →

Man believed to be offering stem-cell therapy without a license Undercover agents arrested a man claiming to be a doctor who was providing stem-cell treatments for injured athletes. Authorities say the man has no medical professional licenses. By: WPBF 25 News … Continue reading →