Using stem cell technology, reproductive scientists at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have produced male and female mice from two fathers. Lead researcher Richard R. Berhringer said the knowledge gained could help in preserving endangered species and improving livestock breeds, as well as opening up the possibility of same-sex couples having their own genetic children. […]
Body-weight and fertility have long been known to be related to each other and now a master switch has been found in the brain of mice that controls both, reports Nature Medicine. The findings suggest that variations in the gene responsible for this master switch – known as TORC1 – could contribute a genetic component […]
The pond-dwelling microscopic invertebrates known as bdelloid rotifers gave up on sexual reproduction more than 40 million years ago but have nevertheless managed to evolve into around 400 distinct species, say researchers inPLoS Biology. The new study challenges the notion that species diversification requires sexual reproduction, as asexual bdelloids display evolutionary patterns similar to those […]
When species become asexual they could be taking the first step to extinction, say researchers from Imperial College London. They’ve been studying the genetic structure of Penicillium marneffei, an asexual fungus only found in parts of south-east Asia. Their research, appearing in PLoS Pathogens, found that although P. marneffei spores were able to spread over […]
