Pairings like peanut butter and jelly or milk and cereal are iconic. But the concept of creating winning combinations is not limited to the kitchen; it is a fundamental principle driving the revolutionary field of synthetic biology, or synbio.

WHAT: A large study found that greater exposure to long-term air pollution was linked with increased risks for blood clots that can occur in deep veins, which, if untreated, can block blood flow and cause serious complications, even death.

National Institute of Health (NIH) scientists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding how "bad" cholesterol, known as low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol or LDL-C, builds up in the body. The researchers were able to show for the first time how the main structural protein of LDL binds to its receptor – a process that starts the clearing of LDL from the blood – and what happens when that process gets impaired.