DNA of bacteria that live in the body passed from mother to child
Traits such as eye color and height are passed from one generation to the next through the parents’ DNA, right?…
Study questions whether lab-grown cells are a faithful model for human disease
Studies of human diseases such as cancer rely on the use of laboratory-grown cell cultures that have often been grown…
Mug shots from DNA possible, say scientists
DNA can already tell us the sex and ancestry of unknown individuals, but now an international team of researchers is…
Genetics play no role in disease risk, claims controversial new study
Genes have been implicated in influencing everything from our sexual orientation to our risk of cancer, but a new paper…
Alzheimer’s may begin in childhood
The people who carry the high-risk SORL1 gene for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease show changes in their brains beginning in early…
Gene expression altered with meditation
Previous studies have shown that meditation can trigger changes in the brain and body but the biological mechanism for these…
Snakes on a brain: slithery reptiles leave lingering imprint on primate genes
A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesappears to confirm a theory that the…
Cholesterol metabolism implicated in anorexia
A DNA-sequencing study of anorexia nervosa sufferers has linked the eating disorder to variants in a gene that regulates cholesterol…
Gender behaviors directly manipulated
Uncovering the individual genes that are directly influenced by testosterone and estrogen has allowed University of California, San Francisco scientists…
Courtship affects gene expression
Some of the mysteries of human mating behavior could now be explained thanks to a new study that shows that…
Genetic trait triples odds of cocaine abuse
Twenty-percent of Caucasians appear to carry a genetic variant that substantially increases their odds of being susceptible to severe cocaine…
Strumpet gene puts infidelity into DNA
Individuals with a certain genetic variant are more likely to have a history of uncommitted sex, including one-night stands and…
New computational methodology could revolutionize evolutionary biology
Detailed, accurate evolutionary trees that reveal the relatedness of living things can now be determined much faster and for thousands…
“Language” Gene Pooh-Poohed
The evolution of human speech was far more complex than is implied by some recent attempts to link it to…
Horizontal Gene Transfer Vastly Underestimated, Suggests New Study
The movement of genes between unrelated species (horizontal gene transfer, or HGT) may happen much more frequently than previously believed,…
Biologists Create Gene “Dimmer Switch”
Writing in the journal Cell, three Boston University biomedical engineers report they have created a genetic dimmer switch that can…
Horizontal Gene Transfer Accelerating Evolution
Fossil records indicate that single-celled life first appeared about 3.5 billion years ago. It then took about 2.5 billion more…
Wild Wheat Gene Puts A Rocket Under Protein Levels
Reporting in the journal Science, researchers from the US and Israel say they have cloned a gene from a variety…
Pimp My Retrovirus
A new gene therapy based on a disabled AIDS virus carrying genetic material that inhibits HIV replication has produced positive…
Mice With Self Esteem Problems Help Identify Depression Gene
Using mice as their subjects, researchers at Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas, have discovered a potentially better way in…
Drug Gene Link To Human Evolution
Humans are much more perceptive than other primates (well, some of us anyway), but the list of genes known to…
Gene Silencing Offers New Strategy For Treating Disease
In two papers published in the online edition of the journalNature Chemical Biology, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center say…
Nanoparticles Used To Deliver Gene Therapy
According to a paper published this week inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say they have superseded previous…
Is Social Behavior Genetic?
A rare genetic disorder may lead scientists to genes for social behavior, a Salk Institute study has found. The study…