Genetics & Molecular Biology

Reproduction: No Surprise, Inbreeding Depression Is Not Random

We’re all aware of the severe genetic and unpleasant physical consequences that result from reproducing with a closely related relative.   Aside from unfortunate aesthetics, inbreeding can also lead to the extinction of small organismal populations.   Thi ...

Article - Hayley Mann - Mar 20 2009 - 12:33am

Jumping Into Stem Cells

I have always held a fascination for transposons, or jumping genes as they are sometimes called. Part of this interest may be due to my background in Drosophila genetics, where a transposon called a P element has been used extensively for genetic manipulat ...

Blog Post - Michael Windelspecht - Mar 17 2009 - 4:20pm

Understanding Mental Illness Through Gene-Environment Interactions

The study of epigenetics in psychiatry promises several key advances, as noted by Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., a Deputy Editor for Biological Psychiatry and an expert in this field. First, it enables, for the first time, direct study of mechanisms contro ...

Article - News Releases - Dec 20 2012 - 4:30pm

Why Is Mediocrity So Common?

Bell curves are everywhere. Pick 100 random people and measure them: measure their height, their weight, their blood pressure, their time to run a mile, or to sprint 50 yards, and their IQ, and you find that most of us fall in the middle of the spectrum, ...

Article - Michael White - Mar 19 2009 - 9:23am

Can Prions Be Epigenetic Regulators In Humans?

Prions first made their notorious media debut in the mid-1980’s when British cattle contracted Mad Cow disease. As a result, over 150 people in Europe were infected and died from the human form known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease—a fatal neurological disord ...

Article - Hayley Mann - Mar 23 2009 - 4:52am

What Honeybees Can Teach Us About Gene Flow

Insects such as honeybees and bumble bees are predictable in the way they move among flowers, typically moving directly from one flower to an adjacent cluster of flowers in the same row of plants. The bees' flight paths have a direct affect on their a ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 22 2009 - 10:32am

Walk It Off, Motor Proteins!

Mechanically, walking is a complicated feat.  We take for granted that a carefree cascade of one-footed falls adds up to steady rapid locomotion. Replicating a dynamically stable foot-over-foot walk has become a holy grail for roboticists—remember the hype ...

Article - Stephanie Pulford - Mar 24 2009 - 9:09am

Genetics For Dummies

"Are you confused by all the talk about DNA and genes? We can help," claims the University of Utah. There is now no excuse for not knowing what stem cells do, what messenger RNA is, why SNPs are important, or about any other hot topic in the news ...

Article - Michael White - Jul 4 2009 - 12:29pm

The Secret Life of Brewer's Yeast

Some fun with microscopes and fluorescent proteins: in the image below, you can watch what brewer's yeast does with its DNA as it reproduces itself. This is the microbe that ferments your beer and wine, and makes your bread rise. ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Mar 26 2009 - 4:10pm

Science Citation Classic: Beadle And Tatum

Behind every major scientific effort is a story. Beadle and Tatum's story is one of persistence. They began with a hypothesis: each gene causes the production of a single enzyme, and that enzyme catalyzes a biochemical reaction within an organism. The ...

Article - John Dennehy - Mar 31 2009 - 1:40pm