Today's Globe: organ replacement and drug discovery funds, black women's tumors, popcorn risk

Boston researchers are about to begin a bold experiment that, if it works, could help solve the organ shortage and provide other replacement parts for worn-out humans. A second local group hopes to transform the drug discovery process. The National Institutes of Health plans to announce today that it will fund both of these projects as part of a $483 million initiative to support daring, difficult research.

A new study gives a possible explanation for why breast cancer is deadlier in black women: They are more likely to have tumors that do not respond to the hormone-based treatments that help many others with the disease.

Four of the biggest makers of microwave popcorn are working to remove a flavoring chemical from their products that's linked to a lung ailment in popcorn plant workers while reassuring consumers about the snack's safety. Microwave popcorn fans worried about the potential for lung disease from butter flavoring fumes should know this: The sole reported case of the disease in a nonfactory worker involves a man who popped the corn every day and inhaled from the bag.

Lahey Clinic is working to land a new helipad on its Burlington campus, so helicopters carrying trauma patients will no longer have to land at TRW Park, a ball field and playground a half-mile from the hospital.