Our ability to reconstruct physical features from DNA is advancing, but can we ensure the privacy of “anonymised” genetic data if we can predict the face of its owner?
Females who remain unidentified at the time of burial are named ‘Jane Doe’.
Findagrave
We’re at the point in DNA technology where individuals who – having parted with $99 and a small vial of saliva – may suddenly find themselves in a criminal investigation.
Sunrise at noon in the Arctic. Little exposure to sun was a piece of the genetic puzzle.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Why was one gene mutation that affects hair, teeth, sweat glands and breasts ubiquitous among ice age Arctic people? New research points to the advantage it provided for ancestors of Native Americans.
Naloxone is often used to revive people overdosing from opioids.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Scientists are just starting to understand how your parents’ genes and experiences might shape your own susceptibility to dangerous drugs. Could that help to stop addictions before they start?
How long has this been here?
igorstevanovic/Shutterstock
A core idea in molecular biology is that one gene codes for one protein. Now biologists have found an example of a gene that yields two forms of a protein – enabling it to evolve new functionality.
The genes in our cells’ mitochondria are passed on in a different way than the vast majority of our DNA. New studies shed light on how the unique process isn’t derailed by mutations.
Most Canadians eat at least double the daily adequate intake of sodium. And, shockingly, 93 per cent of children aged four to eight exceed Health Canada’s Tolerable Upper Intake Level.
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Most men, women and children in Canada exceed the tolerable upper limits of salt for their bodies. Consumers need to understand how much salt is too much – to avoid hypertension and heart disease.
Genetic research could help us produce new ways of diagnosing and treating depression and suicidal ideation – including a ‘death smell test’.
Roughly 10 per cent of the population is left-handed, like President Barack Obama, seen here signing the guest book on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in June 2016.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Research shows that the Y chromosome may be able to protect itself from extinction in the short term. But what about in a future where we all reproduce artificially?
From a certain perspective, we’re already on the road to practicing a ‘progressive eugenics’ not a million miles away from what was imagined historically.
Skeletal fragments from Hummervikholmen, one of sites featured in this study.
Beate Kjørslevik
Scandinavia was populated by two main migrations, making its first inhabitants more genetically diverse and adapted to harsh climates than those in the rest of Europe.
Elementary schools provide excellent targets for interventions to prevent obesity as children spend much of their day and consume many of their calories at school.
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Research shows that children attending schools with low-quality food environments, in poorer neighborhoods, gain more central body fat – putting them at risk of obesity and cardiometabolic disease.
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