Genetics

  1. Microbes

    Archaea microbes fold, twist and contort their DNA in extreme ways

    Single-celled archaea open and close their Slinky-like genetic material in a clamshell motion, possibly providing easy access to their genes.

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  2. Genetics

    DNA databases are too white, so genetics doesn’t help everyone. How do we fix that?

    A lack of diversity in genetic databases is making precision medicine ineffective for many people. One historian proposes a solution: construct reference genomes for individual populations.

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  3. Genetics

    The first human genetic blueprint just turned 20. What’s next?

    The Human Genome Project led to many medical advances. Deciphering 3 million African genomes and using new tech to fill gaps could lead to even more.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Some Neandertal genes in people today may protect against severe COVID-19

    Neandertal DNA on chromosome 12 may affect genes involved in a biochemical chain reaction that ends with the destruction of viral RNA.

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  5. Genetics

    The oldest animal DNA ever recovered reveals mammoths’ evolution

    Mammoths evolved to handle the cold over hundreds of thousands of years and North America may been home to a hybrid species, a new study finds.

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  6. Plants

    Modified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects

    In a Yucatan nature park, engineered genes influence nectar production, affecting ants’ and maybe pollinators’ attraction to the wild cotton plants.

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  7. Genetics

    Lizard-like tuatara carry two distinct mitochondrial genomes

    Having two mitochondrial genetic instruction books, a first for vertebrates, may help explain tuatara’s unique ability to tolerate cold temperatures.

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  8. Genetics

    Some identical twins don’t have identical DNA

    Mutations arising early in development may account for genetic differences between identical twins.

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  9. Genetics

    Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians

    DNA suggests that the deadly bacterium that causes the plague reached northeast Asia by 4,400 years ago.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    How some ticks protect themselves from deadly bacteria on human skin

    A gene that ticks acquired from bacteria 40 million years ago may help the arachnids keep potential pathogens at bay while feeding on blood.

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  11. Genetics

    A key to the mystery of fast-evolving genes was found in ‘junk DNA’

    A new study challenges a long-held belief that essential genes change little over time.

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  12. Genetics

    Penicillin allergies may be linked to one immune system gene

    Researchers have located a shared hot spot — on the HLA-B gene — in the immune system in people who say they have penicillin allergies.

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