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Articles on Genetics

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Rather than there being a single ‘gay gene’, there may be many which contribute to sexual preference. Sasha Kargaltsev/Flickr

Born this way? An evolutionary view of ‘gay genes’

The claim that homosexual men share a “gay gene” created a furore in the 1990s. But new research two decades on supports this claim – and adds another candidate gene. To an evolutionary geneticist, the…
Building yeast chromosomes – cheers to that! Scott Beale/Flicke

Making ‘designer genes’ from scratch begins with yeast

Australia is to play a significant role in the quest for artificial life as it joins an international project to create the world’s first synthetic yeast, we can announce today. Under the leadership of…

Married couples have similar DNA

Married couples share a significantly higher number of genetic similarities compared to any two random individuals. Researchers…
Same genes, different outfits. Spinal Research

Explainer: what is twin research?

Hugo and Ross Turner are a pair of intrepid twins currently on an expedition to Greenland. One of them, Ross, is using the same style of equipment and facilities used by Ernest Shackleton 100 years ago…
Neurogenetic disease is an umbrella term to describe inherited diseases that affect the nervous system. Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov

Explainer: what are neurogenetic diseases?

Each year, thousands of Australians are diagnosed with an inherited condition that affects their nervous system. Neurogenetic disease is an umbrella term to describe these conditions, which are primarily…
Subject to change. Bak16/Deviant Art

Explainer: what is genetic risk?

Genetic risk is the contribution our genes play in the chance we have of developing certain illnesses or diseases. Genes are not the only deciding factor for whether or not we will develop certain diseases…
A gamma bomb was responsible for Bruce Banner’s alter ego the Hulk, but for most men, aggression is the result of genes. Kevin Thai/Flickr

Temper trap: the genetics of aggression and self-control

Everyone knows someone with a quick temper – it might even be you. And while scientists have known for decades that aggression is hereditary, there is another biological layer to those angry flare-ups…
You can never be too safe. government_press_office

Households are new source of antibiotic-resistant superbug

Human skin is a garden of microbes which is home to about 1,000 bacterial species. Most are benign but some invade the skin and cause illness – and of these, antibiotic resistant bacteria are particularly…
Supermodel Gisele Bündchen: sixth generation German, 100% Brazilian. Bob Bekian

Genetic research fights disease but it can be hijacked by politics

There’s a huge variety in physical appearance in Latin America: there are indigenous native Americans, descendants of African slaves, Europeans and Middle Easterners of all kinds, and Chinese and Japanese…
Paternity doubts are a source of gossip and emotional trauma – with a man, woman and child caught in between. SBS (resized)

Who’s your Daddy? seeks answers in all the wrong places

How often is a person’s biological father someone other than the man they call dad? Paternity doubts are a source of gossip, on the one hand, and emotional trauma, on the other. But our assumptions about…
Even bacteria get sick. Zappys Technology Solutions's photostream

Scientists pinpoint when harmless bacteria became flesh-eating monsters

Bacterial diseases cause millions of deaths every year. Most of these bacteria were benign at some point in their evolutionary past, and we don’t always understand what turned them into disease-causing…
Imagine your DNA as strands of fairy lights – and if a globe blew, you could remove it and pop in another. kyz/Flickr

Explainer: what is genome editing?

Mistakes in the paper version of the Encyclopædia Britannica took a long time to correct – years often passed between revised editions – but these days editing information is much easier. In electronic…
An Inupiat Eskimo family from Alaska in 1929, whose ancestors would have crossed Beringia thousands of years previously. Edward Curtis

First Americans lived on land bridge for thousands of years, genetics study suggests

The theory that the Americas were populated by humans crossing from Siberia to Alaska across a land bridge was first proposed as far back as 1590, and has been generally accepted since the 1930s. But genetic…

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