Natural selection isn't the only factor deciding human evolution.
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Articles on Mutations
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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.
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.
Antisense therapy showed promising results in a first-in-human trial for Huntington's disease.
Comparing genomes of more than 200,000 people, researchers identified genetic variants that are less common in older people, suggesting natural selection continues to weed out disadvantageous traits.
Some animals seem to have missing genes – but the reality is a lot more intriguing.
Releasing just 100 mice carrying a faulty gene designed to stop them reproducing can remove an entire population of 50,000, a new study shows, paving the way for new eradication efforts.
Two US researchers have traced the majority of cancers to DNA replication errors during our natural cell replacement. Their finding asks for a renewed inquiry into the role of "chance" in cancer.
New genetic technologies are letting us look at flu evolution right where it starts: within individual people, while they're sick.
Converting a DNA sequence into an audio could help us learn something useful about it, like where mutations occur.
A new research paper reports dangerous side effects in CRISPR-edited mice. Some scientists are pushing back, placing blame for the unwanted mutations on the experiment, not the technique.
How do scientists figure out when evolutionary events – like species splitting away from a common ancestor – happened? It turns out our DNA is a kind of molecular clock, keeping time via genetic changes.
Not only are tumors are different from one another, but there can even be genetic differences within a single tumor.
A gene mutation that causes problems for neural stem cells – the building blocks of the brain – could be corrected by adding carnitine.
What produces the differences between men and women? Are they trivial or profound? Are they genetic or environmental, or both? And are men really closer genetically to chimpanzees than to women?
Gene therapy is allowing us to switch on natural beneficial mutations to counteract the effects of negative mutations in diseases such as sickle cell anaemia.
A mutated gene could be responsible for triggering prostate cancer, new research has found. The relevant gene, p53, encodes…
Mutations in the gene BTBD9 which is believed to be associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS) in humans has been found…
People with Lynch syndrome are at a greater risk of developing a wide variety of cancers than the general public, a new study…
Genetic changes, similar to those acquired in human cancers, have been observed occurring in the stem cells in the latest…
Top contributors
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Merlin Crossley is a Friend of The Conversation.Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic and Professor of Molecular Biology, UNSW
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Distinguished Professor of Genetics, La Trobe University
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Postdoctoral research fellow, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide
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Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Affiliate Associate Professor of Genome Sciences and Microbiology, University of Washington
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Associate Professor in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, University of Reading
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Assoc Prof in Invasion Biogeography and Biosecurity, University of Adelaide
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Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide
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Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath
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Assistant Research Scientist, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Texas A&M University
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E.L. Wehner-Welch Foundation Chair in Chemistry, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Texas A&M University
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Chargée de cours, docteure en psychologie, Université Paris Descartes
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biological Sciences, Columbia University
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Research Affiliate, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
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Ph.D. Student, Michigan State University
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Ph.D. Student, Michigan State University
