Genetics & Molecular Biology

Rachel Carson's Advice On The Eve Of The California Labeling Vote: Why Smart Environmentalists Back GM Foods

Fifty years ago, marine biologist Rachel Carson ignited the modern environmental movement with the publication of Silent Spring. It was an ecological alarm call – an attack on what she believed was the overuse of pesticides and the potential harm they mig ...

Article - Jon Entine - Sep 17 2012 - 4:32pm

Project ENCODE

The publication of the complete human genome sequence in 2007 made the genetic code readily accessible to researchers and served as a platform for the countless advances in science,medicine, and sequencing technology which were to follow. Following the co ...

Article - Eve Hardy - Sep 16 2012 - 9:39am

Facial Morphology: Face Genes Identified

Variation in facial shape is an easy way to explain phenotypes in humans to people who don't understand biology all that well. Monozygotic twins have almost identical faces and siblings usually have more similar faces than unrelated people, implying o ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 13 2012 - 5:33pm

The Secret (Epigenetics) of Bees

Scientists have been 'abuzz' with the results of a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience in which it was reported that differences in the behavior of honeybees correlated to variations in DNA methylation patterns. These changes, moreover ...

Blog Post - Eve Hardy - Oct 1 2012 - 5:22am

Scientifically Modified Maize May Cure Devastating Childhood Disease

Laboratory modified corn has shown some progress in treating a rare, life-threatening childhood genetic disease. Researchers have been developing enzyme therapeutics for lysosomal storage diseases- rare but devastating childhood genetic diseases – for more ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 22 2012 - 1:36pm

CIB2 Genetic Mutation Linked To Usher Syndrome Deafness

Researchers have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1. Usher syndrome is a genetic defect that causes deafness, night-blindness and a loss of peripheral vision through the progressive ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 1 2012 - 3:09pm

Invariant Natural Killer T-Cells Could Help Prevent Obesity

If you watched "Wall-E" you likely laughed at the depiction of hugely obese people riding around in hover cars drinking Big Gulps- surely a science that could create the technology to generate an entire artificial world could solve how to drink B ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 2 2012 - 8:00am

UHRF1: Missing Link Between Epigenetic Tags Histone Modification And DNA Methylation Found

Here is a missing link story that won't make evolutionary biologists crazy. Epigenetics is the most recent craze in science media discussions of biology, it analyzes specific patterns of chemical tags that overlay the DNA structure, determining how ti ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 2 2012 - 8:30am

GM Cow: Cute Abomination Of Nature Could Help Millions Of Allergic Kids

Advocacy groups like Greenpeace and the Union of Concerned Scientists have already declared war on poor people and kids with their militant, anti-science hysteria against Golden Rice but actual scientists continue to work toward the common good. There is m ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Oct 2 2012 - 12:21pm

Diabetes: Researchers Toggle Intestinal Enzymes On And Off

Researchers have found a way to 'toggle' the intestinal enzymes responsible for processing starchy foods on and off, which could lead to better control of those processes in people with Type 2 diabetes. This "toggling" was discovered i ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 2 2012 - 4:24pm