Over half the calories humans eat today come from corn, wheat and rice. Raising a greater diversity of types of crops and animals (agrobiodiversity) makes diets healthier and farming more resilient.
Cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy and fragile X syndrome are serious diseases, and most couples carrying the genetic mutations for these don’t know it. Should they all be tested?
The new species has a smaller head, and a distinctly ‘cinnamon’ colour compared with other orangutans.
Maxime Aliaga
The 2017 Prime Minister’s Science Prize winner is genetic researcher Professor Jenny Graves, well known for her 2002 suggestion that the male Y chromosome will self-destruct.
The genetics of Indonesian people are a mix between different groups of humans.
from www.shutterstock.com
I try to learn who are the ancestors of Indonesian people through genetics. The genetics of Indonesian people are a mix between different groups of humans.
Research of ancient DNA has tended to ignore previous studies about the bones themselves.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
A rush of ancient DNA projects in Africa has presented the curators of archaeological skeletons with ethical issues because research requires the destruction of human bone.
No, you can’t blame (most) tooth decay on your parents. But for crooked teeth, the story’s a little more complicated.
from www.shutterstock.com
Whether you’re a night owl or a morning lark, circadian rhythms control just about every aspect of your health.
Canadians are overwhelmingly opposed to insurance companies having access to their genetic test results. A new Canadian law prevents insurers from using genetic information to determine coverage or pricing.
(Shutterstock)
Canadian insurance companies argue that a new law denying them access to genetic test results will raise the cost of insurance for everyone. That’s doubtful.
As genes are favored or phased out, human evolution continues.
ktsdesign/Shutterstock.com
Comparing genomes of more than 200,000 people, researchers identified genetic variants that are less common in older people, suggesting natural selection continues to weed out disadvantageous traits.
It appears that whatever factors are constraining genetic potential among less well-off students in the US do not exert a similar influence in Australia.
Shutterstock
Inserting a random DNA mishmash into a plant or bacterium directs it to make a novel protein. Sifting through the resulting molecules, researchers may find ones have medical or agricultural uses.
Parents’ DNA try to manipulate one another in a bid to shape junior in their mould.
A banana on the salt lake plain at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, hints at themes of genetics, food and human journeys in three books recommended by fly scientist Thomas Merritt.
Shutterstock
Ability expectations are what people rely upon as they seek out productive and satisfying lives. They need to be a key part of the debate over gene-editing and other major scientific breakthroughs.
Gene drives aim to deliberately spread bad genes when invasive species such as mice reproduce.
Colin Robert Varndell/shutterstock.com
Releasing just 100 mice carrying a faulty gene designed to stop them reproducing can remove an entire population of 50,000, a new study shows, paving the way for new eradication efforts.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford