Albinism is a genetic condition that can cause problems with eyesight such as photophobia (sensitivity to light), involuntary eye movements, and skin sensitivity to the sun. But it is also life-threatening…
If you have a Facebook account, you are likely to have seen someone pour an ice bucket on themselves in the name of raising awareness for amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a disease that affects…
If some foods weird out your taste buds, read on to see if you fall in the ‘supertaster’ quarter of the population.
parkydoodles/Flickr (cropped)
There are natural variations between humans in our senses. We need different prescriptions to correct our eyesight. Some people say that vinyl sounds better than CDs or MP3s and will pay big money for…
Certain genes control lifespan.
Older hands by Shutterstock
Nothing is more certain in life than death. As we age, we become much more susceptible to major diseases like cancer and heart disease because the mechanisms that help prevent them earlier in life start…
The 100,000 Genomes Project has just sequenced the 100th genome. The project, launched by the prime minister two years ago, aims to sequence 100,000 whole genomes from NHS patients and families with cancer…
There’s no one universal ‘intelligence gene’ but many thousands each contributing a small increment – and here are three.
Andrew Huff/Flickr (cropped)
Intelligence, cognitive ability or cognitive performance is usually measured by a battery of tests that aim to quantify skills such as memory and analytical ability. There is loads of variation between…
We live in the age of the genome. Hardly a week goes by without a story about how genes influence our health or behaviour. There has been recent excitement around new advances in the genetics of schizophrenia…
Personalised medicine is the ability to tailor therapy to an individual patient so that, as it’s often put, the right treatment is given to the right patient at the right time. But just how personal is…
Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder. And yet, there are many faces that a majority would find beautiful, say, George Clooney’s or Audrey Hepburn’s. Psychologists interested in mate selection…
There are lots of medicines available to help with the symptoms of schizophrenia. Some are a bit more effective than others. Some have side effects that make them better suited to particular patients…
The face of malaria - diagnosed with a severe case of malaria.
Flickr/Gates Foundation
A new drug for malaria could be developed after a way has been found to kill the parasite that causes the disease. Malaria remains one of the world’s top three single-cause infectious diseases and is caused…
Domesticated mammals, including dogs, share a number of characteristic features.
Klearchos Kapoutsis/Flickr
Don Newgreen, Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Jeffrey Craig, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Take a look at several domesticated mammal species and you might spot a number of similarities between them, including those cute floppy ears. The famous naturalist and evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin…
Many of the genes for maths and reading overlap.
Businessman via alphaspirit/Shutterstock
I disliked and feared maths for most of my school career and dropped it as soon as I possibly could. My mother recalls me crying as a five-year-old because: “I can’t do the people-on-the-bus sums”. If…
A new study of the DNA of Tibetans has looked at the gene underlying their ability to live in the low-oxygen conditions at high altitudes. It found that this gene has come from an unexpected source – the…
The pigeon is still blaming humans though.
Wagner Free Institute
Once the most numerous bird species in North America, passenger pigeons went from numbering in the billions to being extinct in less than a century. Their decline has been mostly blamed on intensive hunting…
Every year malaria kills more than 600,000, which is a little less than the population of Bhutan. There are some simple solutions to control the disease, but keeping the numbers of mosquitoes with malarial…
This weekend we could see history made. The US Triple Crown of thoroughbred horse racing hasn’t been won since 1978. This spring, the racehorse California Chrome won the first two legs of the Triple Crown…
Genetics is just the latest specialist knowledge threatening to take the question of criminal responsibility away from law and hand it over to science.
Graham/Flickr
Welcome to Biology and Blame, a series of articles examining historical and current influences on the notion of criminal responsibility. Today, Arlie Loughnan considers the challenge to the legal system…
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