Genetics & Molecular Biology

Molecular Biology And The Evolution Of Beer

From Austrian monks to American craft brewers, beer geeks are everywhere. But making a good beer not only depends on the best ingredients, but also the best yeast. The beer world is divided into ales and lagers. The original and highly versatile yeast, Sa ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 12 2015 - 8:38am

South Dakota Wine? New Grape Genetically Optimized For Extreme Temperatures

By Joel Shurkin, Inside Science — Wine grapes specially bred for extreme temperatures may have a future, despite any laughs connoisseurs might have at the thought of wine labels extolling the virtues of the terroir of Deadwood or Fargo. A grape-breeding p ...

Article - Joel Shurkin - Aug 19 2015 - 7:45pm

Transparency Weaponized Against Scientists

    How could you destroy someone with their own words, if their words present no evidence of wrongdoing?  It actually is amazingly simple, and illustrates the danger of limitless access to personal emails through public records requests.  In this post I ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - Aug 16 2015 - 4:53pm

Science And Technology Adviser To Condoleezza Rice: GMOs "Critical" To Feeding The World

Nina Fedoroff, molecular biologist and former Science and Technology Adviser to Condoleezza Rice and then Hillary Clinton, says that genetic modification (GM) is the most critical technology in agriculture for meeting the challenges of feeding a growing g ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2015 - 3:15pm

Antibodies In The Blood Provide Clues To Transplant Recipients' Likelihood Of Rejection

The dominant antibody type present in the blood of transplant recipients may indicate their likelihood of experiencing organ rejection, according to a study which may help doctors identify patients who need aggressive treatments to safeguard the health of ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 26 2015 - 4:59pm

Genetic Ancestry Partially Explains A Racial Sleep Difference

A new study clearly establishes a partial genetic basis underlying racial differences in slow-wave sleep, suggesting that it may be possible to develop sleep-related therapies that target specific genetic variants. Using a panel of 1,698 ancestry informat ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 1 2015 - 6:30am

Reduced Vitamin D And Multiple Sclerosis Risk Linked

Vitamin D is being blamed for or is linked to curing everything in 2015, and so it is little surprise a paper uses a genetic study to bolster observational evidence that lower vitamin D levels are associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 27 2015 - 6:28am

Spiky Filaments For Egg Fusion: Sperm Wield Tiny Harpoons

Could the sperm harpoon the egg to facilitate fertilization? That's the intriguing possibility raised by the University of Virginia School of Medicine's discovery that a protein within the head of the sperm forms spiky filaments, suggesting that ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2015 - 1:35pm

Fetal Attraction: How Baby Cells Impact Maternal Health During Pregnancy

Parents go to great lengths to ensure the health and well-being of their developing offspring. The favor, however, may not always be returned. Dramatic research has shown that during pregnancy, cells of the fetus often migrate through the placenta, taking ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2015 - 11:25am

Disruption Of A Crucial Cellular Machine May Kill The Engine Of Deadly Cancers

In a way, cancer resembles a runaway car with a gas pedal stuck to the floor, hurling out of control. Most new targeted cancer therapies seek to fix the gas pedal itself, and thus thwart the aggressive behavior of the tumor. But for many types of cancers, ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 7 2015 - 12:00pm