Most genes in the human body can be disrupted by man-made chemicals.
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Man-made chemical disrupt the activities of most human genes. What effect does this have on human health and how should regulators respond?
Dinka cattle.
Photo by Bruno Bierrenbach Feder/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A thousand-year-old “mixing” event allowed African cattle - after spending thousands of years confined to certain regions - to diversify and spread.
Scientists are revealing the extent to which our behaviour is influenced by our genes, calling into question our capacity for free will. But there is still scope for change.
Our circadian rhythm is an important aspect of our health.
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Frequent disruption of our internal ‘body clock’ is linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Pulverized ancient bone can provide DNA to scientists for analysis.
Xin Xu Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
By studying the DNA of people who lived in East Asia thousands of years ago, scientists are starting to untangle how the region was populated.
Doctors have told people who are overweight to exercise more and eat less, when in fact their overweight may be due to genetic or other factors that exercise won’t change.
UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity
All too often the medical community ‘fat-shames’ patients trying to lose weight, when in fact obesity and overweight are complicated medical issues.
Are there innate differences between female and male brains?
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Attempts to find brain structures responsible for supposed cognitive sex differences have not succeeded.
Is there a genetic switch that can help reverse the aging process?
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Is there a single master gene that controls longevity in all mammals? Or are ‘Fountain of Youth’ genes little more than a myth?
The neighbourhood a child grows up in may influence their health for years to come by changing the activity of their genes.
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This decades-long study found that living in poorer communities changes how genes are regulated.
The relationship between the coronavirus and human genetics is murky.
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Researchers from Oregon Health and Science University found that variations in genes that code for parts of the cellular alarm system might play a role in how well people fight off COVID-19.
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Is it genes, chromosomes, hormones, the immune sytem – or behaviour – that makes men more susceptible to the deadly disease?
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Many people with autism experience gastrointestinal problems. Understanding the role and function of the gut in autism could one day allow us to improve quality of life for people with autism.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition.
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A drug created to target this gene was found to be effective in treating autoimmune conditions like lupus and psoriasis.
It was previously thought cognitive impairments were caused by more copies of single genes from chromosome 21.
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This new research shows that cognitive impairments are actually caused by extra copies of some genes on chromosome 21.
Mosses are among the closest living relatives to Earth’s first land plants.
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New research has pinpointed the genetic boost behind one of the biggest transformations of life on Earth.
The talamanca hummingbird, or admirable hummingbird, is found in Costa Rica and Panama.
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How many genes do you really need? Are there any that we can lose? Researchers are now identifying species that have streamlined their genome to adapt to a particular lifestyle.
Where has this Zambian lion been?
Paula White
Male lions are responsible for the movement of genes between prides. New research confirmed that the genes are traveling long distances – even though no one has been spotting the lions on the journey.
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A thought experiment from Richard Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene turned out to be a more realistic explanation for altruism than he expected.
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It seems genes have a greater influence than previously thought not only on the number of moles you have but also where they are on your body.
Ethical frameworks, rules, laws: all try to have their say.
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CRISPR technology could have momentous effects if it’s used to edit genes that will be inherited by future generations. Researchers and ethicists continue to weigh appropriate guidelines.