Genetics & Molecular Biology

SAVI: Gene Linked To Fatal Inflammatory Disease In Children Identified

Investigators have identified a gene that underlies a very rare but devastating autoinflammatory condition in children. Several existing drugs have shown therapeutic potential in laboratory studies, and one is currently being studied in children with the ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2014 - 12:30am

Draft Of The Wheat Genome Completed

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium recently published a chromosome-based draft sequence of wheat's genetic code- its genome. ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2014 - 3:00pm

Natural Hormone Trigger For Ovulation Could Make IVF Safer

Researchers have successfully used a new and potentially safer method to stimulate ovulation in women undergoing IVF treatment.  One in six couples in the UK experiences infertility, and 48,147 women underwent IVF treatment in 2011.  ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 20 2014 - 9:45am

Not 80: Just 8.2 Percent Of Our DNA Is 'Functional', Says Study

In 2012, scientists involved in the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project stated that 80% of our genome is functional- that it has some biochemical function.  The finding was controversial, with critics arguing that the biochemical definition of & ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 25 2014 - 12:11am

6 New Genetic Risk Factors For Parkinson's Disease Found

Using data from over 18,000 patients, scientists have identified more than two dozen genetic risk factors involved in Parkinson's disease, including six that had not been previously reported.  Affecting millions of people worldwide, Parkinson's ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 27 2014 - 3:18pm

Mutations: Male Fertility Is From Mars, Female Fertility Is From Venus

About 15% of adults suffer from fertility problems, primarily due to genetic factors. This is something of an evolutionary paradox; wouldn't natural selection have caused people with infertility to not reproduce?Various theories explain the survival ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 28 2014 - 10:41am

African Rice Sequenced: A Genome To Feed The World

Credit: University of Arizona Researchers have sequenced the complete genome of Oryza glaberrima (African rice), which will enhance scientists' and agriculturalists' understanding of the growing patterns of African rice, as well as enable the de ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 28 2014 - 5:58pm

How Spiders Spin Silk- The Biology

Spider silk is lightweight and stretchy yet has tensile strength greater than steel. Its chemistry is just as fascinating. Silk proteins, called spidroins, must convert from a soluble form to solid fibers at ambient temperatures, with water as a solvent, ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2014 - 3:56pm

Physicists Verify Zipf's Law Using Eye Neural Fly Data

Physicists have identified a mechanism that may help explain Zipf's law – a unique pattern of behavior found in disparate systems, including complex biological ones. Their mathematical models demonstrate how Zipf's law naturally arises when a su ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2014 - 12:30am

Jumping Genes Help Black Truffles Adapt To Their Environment

Tuber melanosporum- black or Périgord truffles- are fungi that grow in symbiosis with the roots of oak and hazelnut trees. In the world of haute cuisine, they are expensive and highly prized. Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression caused b ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 6 2014 - 3:00pm