The idea that every cell in our body contains identical DNA is incorrect, with scientists discovering that genetic variations are widespread throughout the body’s tissues. The findings, say the researchers, have profound implications for genetic screening as they directly challenge the longstanding belief that the cells which govern our body’s functions have the same DNA […]
Genetics may make some women more vulnerable to the pressure of being thin, say Michigan State University researchers who also found media exposure to idealized body size plays a less significant role than previously thought. For the study, the researchers focused on the psychological impact of women buying into the perceived ideal of thinness, which […]
Researchers at MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a robotic probe to automate the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. Getting access to the inner workings of a neuron offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of […]
Scientists believe that the appearance of a partial, duplicate copy of a gene, occurring around the time that the Australopithecus and the Homo lineages separated, was responsible for the sudden increase in brain complexity that led to language and modern humankind. Writing about their findings in Cell, the researchers say the momentous gene duplication event […]
The direct-to-consumer genetic tests offered by deCODEme and 23andMe give inaccurate predictions of disease risks and regulatory authorities should consider banning them, say the geneticists behind two studies that examined test predictions in relation to a number of disease risks. Both studies were presented this week at the annual conference of the European Society of […]
The results of genetic analysis of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) published in The Lancet reveal they were more likely to have small segments of their DNA duplicated or missing, lending new weight to the unfashionable theory that ADHD is a brain disorder with genetic links. The study also found a significant overlap between these […]
Scientists at the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester (UL) are exploring the potential link between surname and Y chromosome type; work that may one day allow forensic scientists to work out someone’s surname from the DNA alone. Intriguingly, the research to date has shown that men with the same British surname are […]
Scientists at the John Innes Centre, Norwich and Washington State University, have managed to trigger nodulation in legumes, a key element of the nitrogen fixing process, without the bacteria normally necessary for this to occur. Detailing their work in Nature, the researchers say their investigations could lead to the ability to trigger nitrogen fixation in […]
Asexual reproduction leads to a faster accumulation of bad mutations, says a report in this week’s issue of Science. Indiana University evolutionary biologists used the water flea (Daphnia pulex) to establish their findings, which support the hypothesis that sex is an evolutionary housekeeper that efficiently reorders genes and removes deleterious gene mutations. Interestingly, the study […]
The New York Academy of Sciences Readers & Writers lecture series will play host to biologists Marc Kirschner and John Gerhart on January 25, where they will reveal what they consider to be the answer to one of evolutionary theory’s most puzzling questions. If their theory – that explains seemingly random genetic change – passes […]
