Until more is understood, it’s sensible to limit experimentation that would make changes to germ line cells that would be passed on to future generations.
The enzyme, DNA methyltransferase (DNMT), in action in the animation, Tagging DNA.
Kate Patterson
It takes a careful balance between art and science to illustrate the processes that take place within our cells and explain the complexities of epigenetics.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations prompted Angelina Jolie to have a preventative double mastectomy and surgery to remove both ovaries.
Sebastian Kahnert/AAP
Using DNA testing, researchers find that most elephant poaching is happening in two spots – crucial information to stopping the flow of ivory out of Africa.
Roaming among the dinosaurs in Jurassic World.
ILM/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
A breakthrough in genetic of the human embryo raises the question of whether we want to create designer babies with greater athletic abilities.
Hydrothermal vents on the seafloor hold the key to understanding the evolution of cellular life.
Centre for Geobiology (University of Bergen, Norway) by R.B. Pedersen
Despite what we see on television, forensic science is not always easy to understand or simple to convey to a jury, many of whom may not have studied science since they were in school. When a case fails…
The Human Genome Project was just the beginning. The Epigenome Roadmap is now telling us how all these genes switch on and off in different parts of the body, and how they go wrong with disease.
Tom Purcell/Flickr
There’s still a lot we don’t know about how various genes are switched on and off. But a new project is seeking to shed light on the complex world of epigenetics.
Is cancer just a mathematical game of chance?
stuartpilbrow/Flickr
What causes cancer? This deceptively simple question has a devilishly complex answer. So when US researchers proposed a relatively simple mathematical formula to explain a long-standing conundrum in cancer…
The Ripper case is important, and not only because of the women who suffered dreadful deaths.
Dalibor Levíček
The Jack the Ripper murders are the most potent cold case ever. More than a century on from the first killing in 1888 they are still attracting global attention. Academics of many disciplines publish on…
Icy times for mom-to-be meant bad news for baby-on-board.
Shaun Best/Reuters
In January 1998 five days of freezing rain collapsed the electrical grid of the Canadian province of Québec. The storm left more than 3 million people without electricity for anywhere from a few hours…
Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie is willing to take a DNA test to prove her Indigenous heritage – but would that do any good?
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie recently created controversy by claiming in her first speech to Parliament that going back six generations, she is related to the renowned Tasmanian Aboriginal…