Why does a “gay gene” paper still cause a stir? A similar paper on any other topic would probably have passed unnoticed. But this is sex research – where public interest is huge but real funds and real…
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Genetics
Displaying 481 - 500 of 659 articles
The key to understanding disease is in our DNA – the human genome which contains the instructions on how our body should develop and grow. The key to progress in genomics research is in combining as much…
The reaction to the euthanasia of Marius the giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo has highlighted cultural differences in attitudes to animals and death between the UK and Denmark. I first visited the Copenhagen…
There is a common misconception that genes are deterministic and that human potential is fixed at birth. This could not be further from the truth. We, as behavioural geneticists, see no evidence whatsoever…
As the effects of climate change rapidly alter communities, economies and natural systems, the need to advance new solutions to what may be the most pressing biological challenge of our time has never…
An international team of researchers has found that the cause of schizophrenia is even more complex than already believed, with rare gene mutations contributing to the disorder. In two studies published…
Schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and autism have all had recent attention for being “genetically caused”. In scientific research being genetically caused usually corresponds to having a high…
New research claims genetics play an important role in the exam results of British teenagers, even more important than their home life or their teachers. The research, conducted by academics in the United…
Air pollutants may increase the risk of autism in people who have a genetic disposition to the condition. US researchers…
Every now and again you might read about gene therapy and efforts to correct serious genetic diseases. But I’m betting that very few readers have had gene therapy, nor have they ever met anyone who has…
Men who are unemployed for more than two years show signs of faster ageing in their DNA, according to a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers at the University of Oulu, Finland and…
We all know the story: Once upon a time there was a young girl who took a walk through the woods to visit her grandmother, carrying a basket of goodies. When she arrived she found her granny ill in bed…
Talent is unfair. One can quibble about what it actually is. But there is little doubt that it is something that emerges not just from the genes but also from their interaction with the environment. Different…
You might think you don’t have much in common with a fruit fly. But studying them could tell us more about human conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) - from, for example, a motorbike accident…
If your great-grandparents lived through a famine, their experience could well have altered their genetic code. And three generations later you could well be showing signs of that change. The idea that…
Adrian Bird, Howard Cedar and Aharon Razin were hotly tipped to win this year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine for their pioneering work in the field of epigenetics. They didn’t win. But their nomination is…
Ashwellthorpe Lower Wood in Norfolk, England has been managed by coppicing, an ancient form of forestry, for more than a thousand years. It was recorded as coppiced woodland in the Domesday Book published…
Imagine a lake so salty its water exists in a liquid state at -20 °C – then picture something thriving in that seemingly lethal environment. Such an organism exists; several of them, in fact. In a paper…
Scientists have identified 48 previously unknown genetic variants that make a person susceptible to developing Multiple Sclerosis…
You get hauled out of bed in the morning not just because of an alarm clock. We are genetically encoded with a 24-hour (circadian) body clock that allows us to live in harmony with our environment. But…
Top contributors
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Jenny Graves is a Friend of The Conversation.Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
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Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Quality and Professor of Molecular Biology, UNSW Sydney
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Professor in Medical Sciences, Deakin University
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Postdoctoral researcher in genetics, University of Leicester
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Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London
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Head, Molecular Medicine Laboratory, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
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Emeritus Robert Reford Professor and Professor of Medicine, McGill University
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Assistant Professor in Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore
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Thomas Merritt is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laurentian University
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Director of Bruce Lefroy Centre for Genetic Health Research, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
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Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University
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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
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Emeritus Professor of Animal Genetics, University of Sydney
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Professor of Biogerontology, University of Brighton
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University
