Tag Archives: genetics
Gene That Causes Obesity Isolated In Mice
Scientists have been searching for a way to help people lose unwanted weight without altering their diet or activity level for years. Now, it seems that doctors from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have isolated a gene that can be turned off and prevents mice from getting fat, even if they eat an unhealthy diet! The gene is … [ Read more ]
Deadly New Coronavirus Leaves Many Questions Unanswered
A new and deadly virus never before seen in humans is under intense study by the US Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. The virus, known as coronavirus, or NCoV, has taken the lives of half of the thirteen people who have been infected. Virology experts report that they have a vast amount of information regarding NCoV’s genetic makeup … [ Read more ]
Common Protein Tied To ALS And Dementia
Two neurodegenerative disorders, ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and frontotemporal dementia, have been linked to the same abnormal protein, report researchers from the Mayo Clinic. The protein, called C9RANT, clumps together in patients with mutations in the C9ORF72 gene. Epigenetic expression in this gene is credited with causing both ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Doctors believe that clumps of C9RANT lead … [ Read more ]
Genes And Mental Disorders
A popular misconception is that geneticists are constantly on the lookout for the “magic bullet” strand of DNA that will explain or determine large swathes of human behavior or human nature, such as a “mental illness gene.” However, genetics is a lot more complex than that, and the latest research suggests that not only is it important to acknowledge gene-gene … [ Read more ]
Gene Science + Journalism = Bizarro World?
An alarming lack of scientific literacy was highlighted this week after an interview with Harvard geneticist George Church in Germany’s Der Spiegel led to some outlandish interpretations by global media outlets. Speculating on the technical challenges scientists might face when attempting to clone a Neanderthal, Church was perplexed by how many reports misunderstood the difference between theorizing and intention, with … [ Read more ]
Shakespeare Sonnets Stored On Fake DNA
Data storage has always been a problem when the instruments for reading and the storage medium itself become obsolete. Enter synthetic DNA. Compact, lightweight, and relatively indestructible over thousands of years, if stored in a dark, cool environment, synthetic DNA is also getting cheaper to make. Now, a research team from the European Bioinformatics Institute in England, publishing online January … [ Read more ]
Exciting Results In Mouse DNA Study
A new report in the current issue of Nature on the construction of deer mice burrows has identified four areas of DNA that determine very complex behaviors such as deciding the length of a tunnel and whether to include escape tunnels. The exacting and complex experiments drew on ecology as well as evolutionary biology and genetics, and other scientists are … [ Read more ]
Ancient Human DNA Gives Interbreeding Clues
A partial human skeleton unearthed near Beijing in 2003 has provided clues to human evolution during the Stone Age, 40,000 years ago. A January 21 report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims the DNA analysis shows that the skeleton came from a population ancestral to present-day Asians and Native Americans, sharing similar proportions of Neanderthal and … [ Read more ]
The Genetic Factor Of Homosexuality Explained
Scientists have long wondered how homosexuality fits into the theory of natural selection. If a person is attracted to a person of the same gender, then they are not able to produce children together. Since these couples cannot have children together (without the help of in vitro fertilization), it follows that homosexuality cannot be passed to children through genetic means. … [ Read more ]
Global Genome Effort Seeks Genetic Roots of Disease
The 1000 Genomes Project’s mission was to decode the genetic makeup of 1,000 people from diverse backgrounds all over the world. The project involved 200 scientists and will be expanded to include 2,500 people in the coming years. Explains one scientist associated with the project, “We estimate that each person carries up to several hundred rare DNA variants that could … [ Read more ]
