Genetics & Molecular Biology

An innovative gene therapy technique, known as genome editing, ‘searches’ a specific mutated gene and fixes it. Now, for the first time, it has been shown to work in living animals. In the study, the…

A fairly new method in genetic research, known as optogenetics (selected as Method of the Year in 2010 by Nature Methods, see video for a great explanation), uses light to control gene expression.…

Researchers say that a protein expressed in the human retina, human cryptochrome 2 protein (hCRY2), can sense magnetic fields when implanted into Drosophila, leading to an interesting topic in…

This video has become quite popular recently (so if you've already seen it, my apologies). It's about a preacher who claims that (hold on to your seatbelts) becoming christian changes your DNA. …

Noah and Alexis Beery were diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 2, but knowing that was only the first step on a journey to find an answer to the children's problems.  Yet a determined mother…

DNA codes for proteins, and, in doing so, is responsible for many processes that take place in our bodies. An important player in the processes that turn a DNA sequence into a functional protein (see…

You may have heard that doves mate for life but they are a rarity in bird species.   In most, infidelity is a widespread phenomenon even though for females the costs are high because the…

In 2009, Elizabeth. H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of telomerase, an enzyme that replenishes the…

Recombination, the process by which a molecule of (usually) DNA is broken and joined to another one, is one of the main sources of genetic diversity in sexual organisms. Meiotic recombination takes…

A cute little bunny has sparked renewed radiation fear in Japan. The rabbit was (allegedly) born near the severely damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant and has no ears (see video).   However…