Genetics & Molecular Biology

Steven Pinker Confronts His Genome

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker's genome is being sequenced as part of the Personal Genome Project, and he's been gazing at the results, attempting to divine some meaning in the A''s, T's, G's and C's. He shares his m ...

Article - Michael White - Jan 13 2009 - 2:29pm

Pharmacogenomics Group Claims To Match Gene Expression To Drug Efficacy

The pharmaceutical industry is currently facing some key challenges, like an increase in drug development costs, a decrease in the number of drugs being approved and scrutiny from regulatory authorities. Patients themselves are also demanding more effecti ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 18 2009 - 10:26pm

MSX Gene Family 'Evolutionary Key' To Cleft Palate, Says Researcher

Forsyth Institute scientist Peter Jezewski, DDS, Ph.D., says that duplication and diversification of protein regions ('modules') within ancient master control genes is key to the understanding of certain birth disorders. Tracing the history of th ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 14 2009 - 10:43am

Genetic Snapshot Of Iceland 1000 Years Ago

Scientists at deCODE genetics have completed the largest study of ancient DNA from a single population ever undertaken. Analyzing mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring, from 68 skeletal remains, the study provides a detailed look at h ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 16 2009 - 2:17am

DNA Methylation Sites Less Like Islands, More Like Shores

Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches. But after an epic tour of so-called DNA methylation site ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 18 2009 - 9:36pm

Great Blogging on Personalized Genetics

Daniel at Genetic Future has posted the latest edition of Gene Genie. Go read about blog reactions to Steven Pinker's genome, a DNA database for Portuguese criminals, predictions on what super-power-conferring mutations George Church might find in the ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Jan 19 2009 - 4:14pm

Nicotine Receptors Found For The First Time In The Mouth Raise New Hopes For Anti-smoking Therapies

A research team in Portugal and the US has found for the first time nicotine receptors in the taste buds. In fact, although most of the toxicity of smoking is linked to other components, it is nicotine that leads to smoking addiction and until now it was ...

Article - Catarina Amorim - Jan 20 2009 - 11:09am

Mendel Would Be Proud (if He Could Get Online)

Ever since the time of Mendel, students and the general public have struggled with how to understand the interconnection of mathematics and genetics. Not because understanding Mendelian mathematics is a difficult subject, but rather because the applicatio ...

Article - Michael Windelspecht - Jan 21 2009 - 6:14pm

Is Genome Transcription Bidirectional?

Genes that contain instructions for making proteins make up less than 2% of the human genome. Yet, for unknown reasons, most of our genome is transcribed into RNA.  Investigating all transcripts produced in a yeast cell, researchers in the groups of Lars S ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 25 2009 - 7:20pm

Do You Have Congeniality Genes? Your Social Network Standing May Tell You

Can't help being the life of the party?   Us either.   Maybe we were just born that way. Researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego have found that our place in a social network is influenced in part by our genes, ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 11 2009 - 6:16pm