Genetic researchers have discovered an extremely dramatic decline in male genetic diversity between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago, while in contrast, female genetic diversity was on the rise. The work, by scientists from Arizona State University (ASU), the University of Cambridge, and the University of Tartu (Estonia), has been published in the journalGenome Research. It […]
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 […]
Studies of human diseases such as cancer rely on the use of laboratory-grown cell cultures that have often been grown for decades. Now, new research indicates that these cell cultures may not be a reliable copy of real tissue; a finding that casts doubt on the interpretation of many past studies. The researchers, from the […]
Software that scans and analyzes family snapshots could help doctors diagnose which rare genetic disorder a child is suffering from, say Oxford University researchers. Reporting on their work in the journal eLife, the developers say the program recognizes facial features in photographs; looks for similarities with facial structures for various conditions, such as Down’s syndrome, […]
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 […]
Previous studies have shown that meditation can trigger changes in the brain and body but the biological mechanism for these effects has remained a mystery. Now, in the journalPsychoneuroendocrinology, researchers are reporting the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of meditation. The new work, by researchers in the U.S., […]
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 […]
