Genetics & Molecular Biology

ITM2A: Why Women And Men Differ In Height?

Why do men and women have different heights? Why do people have different predispositions to BMI, blood pressure and lipid levels? Chromosome X is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes and researchers from the University of Helsinki set out to analyz ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 6 2014 - 9:43pm

Source Of New Lineage Of Infection-Fighting Blood Cells Discovered

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are among the first components of the immune system to confront certain pathogens and they have a critical function at mucosal barriers, like the bowel or the lung, where the body comes in direct contact with the environment. ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 12 2014 - 10:51am

Clovis Boy Genome Reveals That 80 Percent Of American Natives Are Direct Descendants

The people generally called Clovis were not the first humans in America but they were the first to accomplish expansion on the North American continent. Then they died out, leaving only speculation.  Starting somewhere around 13,000 years ago, they hunted ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 12 2014 - 9:57pm

Synthetic Molecular Oscillator Can Control Artificial Cells

Researchers have made a discovery regarding the behavior of a synthetic molecular oscillator, which could serve as a timekeeping device to control artificial cells. ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 18 2014 - 5:26pm

Regenerative Medicine: Skin Cells Turn Into Beating Heart Cells

 Heart disease is the world's leading cause of death, but recent advances in science and medicine have improved the chances of surviving a heart attack. In the United States alone, nearly one million people have survived an attack, but are living wit ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 20 2014 - 2:24pm

Cas9 Enzyme Is A Genome-Editing Tool

Bacteria and other microbes can be genetically engineered to perform a variety of valuable jobs, from producing safer, more effective medicines and sustainable fuels to cleaning up air, water and land. Cells from eukaryotic organisms can also be modified f ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 21 2014 - 7:00am

Optimizing Genetic Diversity Of Wild Chickpea Species Boosts Nutrition And Sustainability

A new research effort in Ethiopia seeks to improve the productivity of chickpea varieties by harnessing the genetic diversity of wild species. The federal Feed the Future Initiative is the latest rebranding of the U.S. government’s global hunger and food s ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 25 2014 - 6:30am

First Wave And Adult Wave: Adolescent Girls And Adult Women Have Different Eggs

The eggs produced by adolescent girls are not the same as the ones produced by adult women, according to a recent study in Human Molecular Genetics, which lists evidence that there are two completely distinct types of eggs in the mammalian ovary – "t ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 26 2014 - 10:47am

Is IRX3 Is Likely The Fat Gene?

Mutations within the gene FTO have been implicated as a genetic determinant of obesity risk in humans, but the mechanism for any link remains unknown. A new paper says that the obesity-associated elements within FTO interact with IRX3, a distant gene on t ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 13 2014 - 7:00am

Lactose Culture: Africans' Ability To Digest Milk Linked To Spread Of Cattle Raising

Babies are born with the ability to digest lactose, the sugar found in milk, but most humans lose this ability after infancy because of declining levels of the lactose-digesting enzyme lactase. Most mammals also do not drink milk after weaning. So did mai ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 16 2014 - 10:35am