Genetics & Molecular Biology

Chewing Gum Could Implicate Aaron Hernandez For Murder- It Could Also Recreate His Face From DNA

Aaron Hernandez, until today a young, rich ($40 million contract) tight end for the New England Patriots football team, has been arrested and charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd, who had been dating his fiancée’s sister. The key piece of evidence: Bubbl ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 26 2013 - 9:55pm

You Say Tomato, I Say Comparative Transcriptomics

Researchers in the U.S., Europe and Japan have produced the first comparison of both the DNA sequences and which genes are active, or being transcribed, between the domestic tomato and its wild cousins. The results give insight into the genetic changes inv ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 26 2013 - 3:54pm

FrankenCabbage-Scorpion Chimera: Science Terrifies Anti-Science Hippies By Being Awesome Again

How dare biologists create something not found in nature! Well, mankind has a lot of experience in trying to keep nature from killing us- the war between man and nature is a grudge match whose history and resentments run deep.  When scientists stop trying ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Mar 8 2015 - 10:19am

Uniform Scaling Of Temperature Dependent And Species Specific Changes In Timing Of Drosophila Development

We posted a new preprint from the lab on arXiv and would love your comments. ...

Article - Michael Eisen - Jun 30 2013 - 11:03am

Cold Activation Of Brown Fat Can Be A Heart Attack Hazard

Scientists recently discovered surprising evidence that more brown fat (as a result of cold treatment) could increase a person’s risk of getting a stroke or a heart attack. The finding could explain why more people die of cardiovascular diseases during the ...

Article - Jennifer Wong - Jul 10 2013 - 12:26pm

Nanog Study Challenges Assumption About Gene Expression In Embryonic Stem Cells

The transcription factor Nanog plays a critical role in the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells and is expressed in a manner similar to other pluripotency markers, according to a new paper This finding contradicts the field's presumptions about this ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 9:29pm

Why Our Prehistoric, Parasitic 'Jumping' Genes Don't Kill Us

‘Jumping genes’ found in most living organisms don’t ultimately kill off their hosts, which is a long-standing scientific mystery.  A new paper reveals how the movement and duplication of transposons is regulated, which prevents a genomic meltdown and ins ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 10:06pm

Taste Genes Linked To Male Sterility

Two proteins involved in oral taste detection, TAS1R3 and GNAT3, also play a crucial role in sperm development, according to a new paper. While breeding mice for taste-related studies, the researchers discovered that they were unable to produce offspring ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 10:12pm

Lrh-1 Liver Protein Crucial For Pregnancy Also

The liver receptor homolog-1 (Lrh-1) molecule first shown to function in the liver plays a crucial role in pregnancy in mice and has a key role in the human menstrual cycle, according to researchers at the University of Montreal.  Mice that were genetical ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 10:30pm

Hydrogels Can Form Synthetic Scaffolds, Improve Blood Supply To Engineered Replacement Tissues

Next-generation hydrogels can form synthetic scaffolds to support the formation of replacement tissues and organs in the emerging area of regenerative medicine. Embedding peptides into the hydrogels stimulates the growth of essential microvascular network ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2013 - 3:39pm