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Articles on Human genetics

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DNA Nation raises questions of genetics, identity and race. DNA Nation/SBS

DNA Nation raises tough questions for Indigenous Australians

The SBS documentary DNA Nation tracks three people on their ‘individual genetic journey’. But for Indigenous Australians in particular, genetic testing is a can of worms - politically, ethically and technically.
The 1000 Genome Project is comparing the genomes of thousands of people from around the world. Shutterstock

Thousands of genomes reveal human genetic differences around the world

The 1000 Genome Project has revealed the genetic variations that exist among people around the world, and discovered that some people are missing many genes.
Mum’s gone to Iceland. Creatista/Shutterstock

Viking women travelled too, genetic study reveals

The traditional picture of Vikings is one of boatloads of hairy men pillaging their way along the coasts of Europe. Though true to some degree, this stereotype has more recently been tempered with the…
Harking back to the diet of the caveman. Flickr/George

The palaeolithic diet and the unprovable links to our past

We still hear and read a lot about how a diet based on what our Stone Age ancestors ate may be a cure-all for modern ills. But can we really run the clock backwards and find the optimal way to eat? It’s…
The human Y chromosome has retained only 3% of its ancestral genes. So why’s it a shadow of its former self? Rafael Anderson Gonzales Mendoza/Flickr

Sex, genes, the Y chromosome and the future of men

The Y chromosome, that little chain of genes that determines the sex of humans, is not as tough as you might think. In fact, if we look at the Y chromosome over the course of our evolution we’ve seen it…
Research into gene regulation can treat illness, grow food and understand the brain. WildBear

Epigenetic code cracker: why skin cells are skin cells and not neurons

The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science – awarded at Parliament House in Canberra tonight – recognise excellence in science and science teaching. This year, we asked four prizewinners to reflect on their…
There’s no one universal ‘intelligence gene’ but many thousands each contributing a small increment – and here are three. Andrew Huff/Flickr (cropped)

Intelligence inheritance – three genes that add to your IQ score

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…
It don’t matter if you’re black or white (or yellow, or beige, or brown). Suedehead/Flickr

Human races: biological reality or cultural delusion?

The issue of race has been in the news a lot lately with the canning of proposed amendments to Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act, attempts by extremists to commit genocide on cultural minorities in…
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…
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…
Let’s start humanity, genetically speaking. FurLined

Genetic Adam and Eve may have walked on Earth at the same time

All scientific evidence points to the fact that, if you go far enough back, all life on Earth is related through common ancestry. Turns out that applying the same sort of analysis shows that all humans…

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