Genetics & Molecular Biology

Inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington disease involve disease-causing genetic mutations that damage or remove a protein that has an essential role in the body. This protein defect…

For children and immune-compromised adults in developing countries, diarrheal disease induced by rotavirus can be life threatening. Rotavirus is the leading cause of diarrhea in infants and young…

A RIKEN research team says that an enzyme called Rines regulates Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), a major brain protein controlling emotion and mood, making it a potential drug target for treating…

I've just returned from a week on Kauai.  It is known as "The Garden Isle" of the Hawaiian chain, but recently that garden has been heavily sown with seeds of fear, suspicion, and conspiratorial…

 Mosses are tiny plants with a simple body plan - they have no roots, no flowers and do not produce seeds. It was reasonable to assume they were also simple organisms also at the genetic level.…

X chromosomes are special, even for genetic material. They differ in number between men and women and to achieve equality between sexes, one out of two X chromosomes in women is silenced. In…

Newly published research reveals that aberrant signaling by a protein called transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta - already known for its role in some connective tissue disorders) is also a…

The genetic sequence of the X chromosome, the female counterpart to the male-associated Y chromosome, reveals that large portions of the X have evolved to play a specialized role in sperm production…

Neural tube defects affect more than 300,000 babies born around the world each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neural tube defects, including anencephaly…

Gleaning from the natural process of X chromosome inactivation, scientists recently discovered a way to “turn off” the extra copy of chromosome 21 in Down syndrome, a strategy that might one day cure…