Genetics & Molecular Biology

Your desires for genome voyeurism, that is. Harvard geneticist George Church has managed to get 10 people to fork over a big chunk of change to have their entire genomes sequenced- that is, the entire thing, not just the SNPs that you get from 23andMe for ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Oct 20 2008 - 10:03am

Natural Protein 'Fabric' Means Biocompatible Bandages

Scientists in Israel are reporting the first successful spinning of a key natural protein into strong nano-sized fibers about 1/50,000th the width of a human hair. The advance could lead to a new generation of stronger, longer-lasting biocompatible sutures ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 20 2008 - 8:03pm

Scholars suggest Human DNA shows signs of being an Invasive Extraterrestrial Parasite

Many scientists have documented that over 95% of Human DNA does not have a known purpose. This DNA has been colloquially referred to as "Junk DNA". Up to 97% of the human genetic information (DNA) is seemingly needless, repetitive "junk&q ...

Blog Post - Peter Tremblay - Oct 21 2008 - 1:31am

FBL17 Discovery- The Gene Behind ‘Plant Sex Mystery’

An enigma unique to flowering plants has been solved, say researchers from the University of Leicester (UK) and POSTECH, South Korea. Scientists already knew that flowering plants, unlike animals, require not one but two sperm cells for successful fertil ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2008 - 12:50pm

Anthocyanins May Mean Outrageously Healthy Purple Tomatoes

Scientists have expressed genes from snapdragon in tomatoes to grow purple tomatoes high in health-protecting anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are naturally occurring pigments found at particularly high levels in berries such as blackberry, cranberry and chokeb ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 23 2012 - 11:45pm

Gene Regulation – It’s All In The DNA

Scientists in Cambridge, UK, using a mouse with a human chromosome in its cells, discovered that gene expression, contrary to what was previously thought, is mostly controlled by regulatory DNA sequences. Mice and humans (and most vertebrates) share the ma ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Oct 26 2008 - 2:50pm

Why 'Genetic Differences' In Northern Europe Are Greater Than Other Areas

Genetically, the Germans and British are very close to each other but the genetic distances between the Swedes and Eastern and Western Finns are larger, and the diversity in these populations is lower. A recent study shows that genetic differences in Centr ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 24 2008 - 12:40pm

Fruit flies. I kid you not.

I have complained recently about the state of basic research support in Canada, as the current government is pushing for more short-sighted, applied, industry-oriented work. This is as nothing compared to the attitude of some politicians south of the 49th. ...

Blog Post - T. Ryan Gregory - Oct 25 2008 - 5:01pm

More on the importance of model organisms

Since Palin's comments on fruit fly research are getting some commentary, it's a good time to review the value of model organisms in basic research. One of the things budding geneticists, biochemists and cell biologists learn very quickly when th ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Oct 25 2008 - 3:56pm

Found- First Gene For Clubfoot

Clubfoot, one of the most common birth defects, has long been thought to have a genetic component. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have found the first gene linked to clubfoot in humans. By studying a m ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 25 2008 - 4:51pm