Researchers believe they have identified why a mutation in a particular gene can lead to obesity. Mouse experiments suggested the body’s message to “stop eating” was blocked if the animals had the mutation. The study, published in Nature Medicine, said the brain’s response to appetite hormones was being disrupted. The Georgetown University Medical Center researchers hope…
The future of personalized genomic medicine can be glimpsed in a paper that reports the integration of lead author Michael Snyder’s genomic sequence with other ‘omics’ to give a read-out on his predisposition to disease, and his body’s response to viral infections and the onset of type 2 diabetes. As a proof-of-principle example of personalized…
Targeting “messenger RNAs” may correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA, experts at UCLA say. Currently, there is no way to successfully repair or compensate for these mutations in the human mitochondrial genome, implicated in neuromuscular diseases, metabolic defects and aging. The findings could lead to a form of gene therapy.
Russian and South Korea scientists have teamed up to recreate a woolly mammoth – a prehistoric creature that last walked the earth some 4,500 years ago. The teams aim to get to work on thawed remains of the extinct mammal recovered after global warming thawed Siberia’s permafrost. The mammoth’s tissues are to be cloned by…
When men get stressed, their bodies get more revved up than women’s. Now, two Australian researchers have a theory as to why — and it all boils down to a single gene. The classic “fight-or-fight” response to stress is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system — the part of our nervous system that deals with…
Honey bees drones actually have a large spectrum of personalities. Scientists found that some are homebodies, some are explorers, and no matter what they are, we can change them. The defining trait of personality is a consistent response to similar stimuli in different contexts. Honey bees hives are filled with self-sacrificing drones, but certain bees,…
In Silicon Valley, the line between computing and biology has begun to blur in a way that could have enormous consequences for human longevity. The promise is that low-cost gene sequencing will lead to a new era of personalized medicine, yielding new approaches for treating cancers and other serious diseases. The arrival of such cures…
Researchers have deciphered the genetic code of the gorilla – the last of the Great Ape genuses to be sequenced and, after chimps, gorillas are the closest living relative of humans. Understanding these genetic catalogues, from our closest living relatives, can reveal much about our evolutionary path — such as when we diverged from our…
Scientists have long gotten used to the idea that bodies are just genes’ ways of making more genes, survival machines that carry genes to the next generation. Think of a salmon struggling upstream just to expend its body (now expendable) in spawning. Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel’s idea is that cultures are an extension of this:…
The 5,300-year-old Iceman had brown eyes, Lyme disease and modern-day Mediterranean relatives