Traits such as eye color and height are passed from one generation to the next through the parents’ DNA, right? Not according to a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who have shown that the DNA of bacteria that live in the mother’s body can pass a trait […]
A new report in the International Journal of Eating Disorders is the first to show that the longer someone suffers from anorexia nervosa, the more likely they are to show alterations in DNA methylation. These alterations cause changes in gene expression which can affect a range of physiological mechanisms. The study, entitled “DNA methylation in […]
Shorter men live longer, according to new research that shows shorter men were more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development, lower blood insulin levels, and less cancer. “We split people into two groups – those that were 5-foot-2 and shorter, and 5-4 […]
DNA can already tell us the sex and ancestry of unknown individuals, but now an international team of researchers is beginning to connect genetics with facial features, degrees of femininity, and racial characteristics. Writing about their work in PLOS Genetics, the researchers detail how by jointly modeling sex, genomic ancestry, and genotype, the independent effects […]
Florida State University scientists investigating neurobehavioral disorders say that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could be an environmentally induced health condition inherited from a grandmother who smoked during pregnancy. ADHD affects about 10 percent of children and 5 percent of adults in the United States. Health experts have struggled to produce a definitive scientific explanation […]
Genes have been implicated in influencing everything from our sexual orientation to our risk of cancer, but a new paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interfaceasserts that the prominent emphasis currently given to the gene (a string of bases on the DNA molecule) in biology is based on a flawed interpretation of […]
Wedded bliss or a miserable marriage? Researchers at UC Berkeley and Northwestern University say that a gene involved in the regulation of serotonin can predict how much our emotions affect our relationships – and our marital satisfaction. “An enduring mystery is, what makes one spouse so attuned to the emotional climate in a marriage, and […]
A dad’s exposure to stress leaves a lasting impression on his sperm, say researchers who have been investigating a never-before-seenepigenetic link to diseases such as anxiety and depression that can be passed from father to child. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows that stress on pre-adolescent and adult male mice induced an […]
An intriguing investigation of bacterial genetic circuitry suggests that even the simplest creatures can make difficult choices that strike a balance between selflessness and selfishness. In a new study in Scientific Reports, researchers from Rice University, Tel Aviv University and Harvard Medical School show how sophisticated genetic circuits allow an individual bacterium within a colony […]
Research from the University of Missouri (UM) indicates certain genetic traits may predispose people to being more or less motivated to exercise and remain active. In the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, UM veterinary researcher Frank Booth explains how he selectively bred rats that exhibited traits of either extreme activity or […]
