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 Genetics
23 April 2008
Zeroing-In On Epigenetic Inheritance Mechanism
US reseachers say they now understand how "silent" heterochromatin (tightly packed clumps of DNA where the genes are effectively turned off) can be transcribed into interfering RNA and inherited across generations...
11 April 2008
Spit-Swap Forces Changes To DNA Testing
Protocols for DNA testing are being revised after a man attempted to foil a DNA paternity test by placing another man's saliva in his mouth...
9 April 2008
Evolution Leaves "Fingerprint" Across Human Genome
Turning genetic information into proteins leaves genetic fingerprints, even on regions of the DNA that are not involved in coding for the final protein...
25 March 2008
Doctors Outline Policy To Prevent Genetic Discrimination
The American College of Physicians has released a policy document which they believe should be integral to new laws to protect against genetic discrimination in employment and insurance...
19 February 2008
"Language" Gene Pooh-Poohed
The evolution of human speech was far more complex than is implied by some recent attempts to link it to a specific gene, says an MIT Prof...
8 February 2008
GM Cotton Gets First Resistant Pest
Bollworm are the first pests to evolve resistance in the field to plants modified to produce an insecticide called Bt...
26 November 2007
Self-Assembling DNA Chunks Point To Life's Beginnings
The discovery of tiny chunks of DNA that assemble into liquid crystals that "self-orient" points to a plausible scenario for the emergence of life on Earth...
8 November 2007
Genome Analysis Left Wanting
The sequencing and comparison of 12 fruit fly genomes has revealed considerable flaws in the way scientists identify genes...
18 October 2007
X Chromosome The Evolutionary Smoking Gun
New research contends that the X chromosome is heavily influential in the process of speciation — and the reason may be nothing like what biologists expected...
31 August 2007
Horizontal Gene Transfer Vastly Underestimated, Suggests New Study
The movement of genes between unrelated species may happen much more frequently than previously believed, allowing species to acquire new genes and functions extremely quickly...
27 July 2007
Biologists Create Gene "Dimmer Switch"
A tunable genetic switch based on RNAi and repressor proteins can be used to turn on, shut off, or partially activate a gene's function...
11 July 2007
Chernobyl Radiation Affecting The Brightest Of The Bunch
Birds with brightly colored plumage are among the species most adversely affected by the high levels of radiation around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, ecologists have discovered...
19 June 2007
Human Genome "Far More Complex Than Anyone Imagined," Laments Prof
Genetics boffins have called for a reality-check on proposed gee-whiz gene therapies, after the discovery of a vast swathe of unknown protein coding that goes on beyond the boundaries of the documented genome...
29 May 2007
The Cow That Laid The Golden Lactose
Biotech researchers screening milk samples from New Zealand cattle have found that some cows naturally produce skim milk, a discovery that could revolutionize the dairy food industry...
2 April 2007
Fungicide Causing Unusual Epigenetic Changes In Rats
Unusual inherited changes caused by a common fruit fungicide (Vinclozolin) are dramatically affecting the mating behavior of rats...
30 March 2007
Metagenomics: The More The Merrier
Metagenomics, a new holistic technique to analyze vast swathes of microbial DNA, may make it possible to view ecosystems themselves as biological units with their own genetic repertoires, and to sidestep completely the consideration of individual species...
24 November 2006
Wild Wheat Gene Puts A Rocket Under Crop Protein Levels
A new agricultural revolution could be in the offing as plant scientists use a gene from a wild variety of wheat to ramp-up protein and nutrient levels in commercial wheat crops...
4 October 2006
Biochemists Mull Alternative DNA Structures
Scientists are trying to establish how nature arrived at DNA's simple and elegant structure by making alternative DNA forms...
8 August 2006
DNA Structure Still Surprises
Biological dogma has long held that as a molecule of DNA is stretched, its double helix starts to unwind; but now, researchers have shown that this is, in fact, not the case...
21 July 2006
Universal DNA Switch Shakes Up Biology
The startling discovery that all forms of life on Earth use the very same mechanism to initiate a cell's division into twin daughter cells has caused somewhat of a commotion among biologists. It may not sound like much to the layman, but the discovery casts doubt on a number of long-standing and cherished biological models. But rather than it being a crisis in biology, it simply shows how science - in an era that some have dubbed the dawn of a “scientific dark age” - remains as vital and dynamic as ever...
17 July 2006
Protein Complex Fixes Knotty DNA Problem
Researchers have discovered how genetic information remains intact as cells divide, which may provide a greater understanding of what goes wrong when cancer occurs...
15 July 2005
Do We Really Understand Gene Transfer?
The ‘tree of life’ visualization used to illustrate gene transfer between organisms has been a mainstay of scientific orthodoxy for years, but new research has turned that dogma on its head by observing that gene transfers occur not only vertically, from one organism to its progeny, but also horizontally through the exchange of genetic material between distantly related organisms...
25 May 2006
Giant Cassava Plants Could Feed Africa
A genetically modified cassava plant more than twice as big as normal cassava roots could play a significant role in addressing food shortages in Africa...
25 April 2006
Focus Of Genetic Research Narrowed
A new way of determining proof of natural selection at the single gene level could replace what is known as the standard neutral model, which many scientists say is less than ideal...
13 February 2006
When DNA Turns On Itself
When DNA twists in the opposite direction to its familiar right hand spiral, it becomes what researchers have dubbed Z-DNA, a catalyst for cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma...
24 January 2006
More Evidence Of Our Close Relationship With Chimps
The theory that humans and chimpanzees may be more closely related to each other than chimps are to the other two species of great apes – gorillas and orangutans – has just become even more compelling...
5 September 2005
Junk RNA Begins To Yield Its Secrets
Two new research papers have shed some light on the mysteries behind non-coding RNA molecules. While these “junk” molecules don’t play a role in creating proteins, they do appear to play significant roles in the function of cells...
24 August 2005
GM Bacteria Making Plastics
The effects of dwindling fossil fuel reserves won’t only be felt at the gas pump. Key ingredients for making plastic come from oil, and researchers are looking at how alternatives like genetically modified E. coli could manufacture some of these chemicals...
10 August 2005
DNA Error Tolerance Points To Life's Warm Beginnings
Researchers investigating why the language of our genes is more complex than it would seemingly need to be, say their findings point to life beginning in a hot primordial soup...
15 July 2005
Do We Really Understand Gene Transfer?
The ‘tree of life’ visualization used to illustrate gene transfer between organisms has been a mainstay of scientific orthodoxy for years, but new research has turned that dogma on its head by observing that gene transfers occur not only vertically, from one organism to its progeny, but also horizontally through the exchange of genetic material between distantly related organisms...
20 December 2004
Synthetic DNA Set For Data Processing
Researchers have constructed a synthetic DNA "scaffolding" that they say has the potential to self-assemble data processing components 1,000 times as densely as those produced conventionally...
18 August 2004
New Bayesian Technique Helps Unravel DNA Mutations
A new mathematical approach for analyzing the patterns of natural mutation in DNA will help biologists understand how mutation contributes to evolutionary change...
28 June 2004
New Method For Introducing Transgenic Material
Reproductive scientists have succeeded in producing the first animal offspring with transgenic material carried directly from sperm stem cells "infected" with a retrovirus...
28 May 2004
New Findings On Ribosome Function A Surprise
Oops, researchers say that four critical components of cells' protein-building machinery don't do what scientists had long assumed...
Related:
Animal Kingdom
Biology
Environment
Evolution
Humans
Mind/Brain
Prehistory
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