Epigenetics

Analysis and Comment (7)

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One in three Australian babies are born by caesarean – but we still don’t know the lifetime effects on the offspring. Image from shutterstock.com

Can caesarean sections increase susceptibility to disease?

By Hannah Dahlen, University of Western Sydney

Despite efforts to reduce intervention rates during labour, vaginal births without medical intervention are becoming increasingly rare in Australia and overseas: nearly one in three women in Australian…
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The Indian Myna is an invasive species – but has its behaviour changed in Australia? Wikimedia Commons.

Besieged by destructive plants and animals? Blame epigenetics

By Lynn B. Martin, University of South Florida and Christina Richards, University of South Florida

Plants and animals that are seemingly harmless in their native habitats can become quite aggressive or even destructive in a new location. Think of the rats that have been a source of human and animal…
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Epigenetic factors can change due to environmental factors, such as diet, toxins and stress. leeroy09481/Flickr

Explainer: how epigenetics is providing insight into cancer

By Susan Clark, Garvan Institute and Fatima Valdes Mora, Garvan Institute

DNA provides the instructions to make us how we look and contributes to our life expectancy. Identical twins have exactly the same DNA, so why are slightly different in many ways? The answer is epigenetics…
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The human brain can write plays and build robots, but where did this intelligence come from? ores2k

Human intelligence: why are we the smartest primates?

By Andrew Lonie, University of Melbourne

Intelligence is our most complex characteristic. Some would even say it defines us, setting us apart from other primates. And now, a new study – published this week by Hennady P. Shulha and colleagues…
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Men play an equal, if not larger, role in passing on genetic mutations to their children. Bettina Neuefeind

Men’s ‘biological clock’ linked to schizophrenia and autism

By Melanie McDowall

We all know about the reproductive “biological clock” in women reminding them of the finite time in which they can have children. Now researchers have found evidence that men also have a reproductive…
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These genes exert their influence through the immune system. Flickr/Natashacld

Revealed: 57 pieces of the MS puzzle

By Graeme Stewart

In one of the largest human genetic studies ever undertaken, scientists have identified the major common genetic variants that contribute to the cause of the devastating neurological disease, multiple…
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Try as you might, there’s no proof you can control your genetic expression. mutsmuts/Flickr

Think you can think yourself better? Think again

By Marnie Blewitt, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Can the way we think influence the way we feel? Most of us would say yes. But can thinking affect the way our bodies behave on a genetic level? Can we, in essence, think ourselves better? A growing band…

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