Genetics & Molecular Biology

Increases In Food Allergies Or Diagnoses? No Change In IgE Antibody Levels, Finds Study

There have been increases in prevalence of food allergies over the past several decades but a debate over why; some fundraising groups and websites claim it is due to science changing food while some say it is simply better diagnosis and others say it cou ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 25 2016 - 4:30pm

Lactose Intolerance And Mental Illness- Because Epigenetics Can Explain Anything

A new claims the epigenetics of lactose intolerance may provide an approach to understanding schizophrenia- perhaps because both lactose intolerance and schizophrenia are inherited and neither condition emerges in the first years of life and in a booming ...

Article - News Staff - May 11 2016 - 8:15am

Epigenetic: The Imprinter Of All Maladies

Epigenetics is everywhere. Nary a day goes by without some news story or press release telling us something it explains. Why does autism run in families?  Epigenetics. Why do you have trouble losing weight? Epigenetics. Why are vaccines dangerous? Epigene ...

Article - Michael Eisen - May 11 2016 - 12:58pm

Sweet Irony: The Environmental Impacts Of GMO Sugar Science Denial

Several times a year I find myself exiting the Florida’s Turnpike at Yeehaw Junction and heading south.  When I get to the small town of Okeechobee I take a left and head down Route 98 through Florida’s extensive agricultural backyard.  Flanked by Lake Ok ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - May 14 2016 - 7:07am

Family History Is Why One Third Of Children Have Higher Levels Of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

A new study published in Diabetologia finds that children with a strong family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or type 2 diabetes were found to have cholesterol levels significantly higher than children with no family history of those conditio ...

Article - News Staff - May 31 2016 - 7:15am

Enjoying Genetically Modified Beauty

On Memorial Day my sister and brother-in-law took me to visit an extraordinary commercial nursery West of Chicago called “ The Planter’s Pallet. ” ...

Article - Steve Savage - Jun 3 2016 - 1:09pm

Better Brains With Beer

Some cultures have demonized alcohol while others have welcomed it. Modern research has confirmed that over indulgence in alcohol is bad for you but also shown that moderate drinking increases health and life expectancy. Most of the beneficial effects app ...

Article - David Clark - Jun 21 2016 - 6:40pm

The Academic Biomedical Workforce Is Aging, And It Will Affect Academic Funding

Though basic research is incredibly valuable, without applied results it has limited use for the public. And that means limited funding. The U.S. government spent $5 billion this century convincing young scholars that government-funded research was real r ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 8 2016 - 9:59am

Defining What It Means To Be A Naive Stem Cell

Whitehead Institute scientists have created a checklist that defines the "naive" state of cultured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Such cells can mature into almost any cell type and more closely resemble the unique molecular features of plu ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2016 - 6:46pm

Dietary Restriction Increases Lifespan Through Effects On The Gut

Dietary restriction, or limited food intake without malnutrition, has beneficial effects on longevity in some species, like rats, but they have to be weaned on it.  Despite that, a paper in PLoS Genetics claims it works in humans, probably to get mainstre ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 15 2016 - 5:19pm