For ten years, Lowell Skinner worked in a paper mill in the city of Tsinan.

Phages are well known for mistakenly incorporating bits of DNA from one host and carrying them to the next, thereby spreading genetic material rapidly between their host bacteria. In the marine environment, this behaviour, which has been referred to as 'viral sex', seems to be rife, with viruses capturing host genes and passing them around the community

People who were taught classical Greek and Latin at school are a dying breed.

The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.