Category: Genetics

Sex is messy.

It’s not just about chromosomes. Or reproductive cells. Or any other binary metric. Many genetic, environmental and developmental variations can produce what are thought of as masculine and feminine traits in the same…

Decades ago, researchers showed that Down syndrome (also known as trisomy 21), was caused when individuals carried an extra copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is also the most common genetic cause of…

Only around two percent of the human genome codes for proteins, and while those proteins carry out many important functions of the cell, the rest of the genome cannot be ignored. However, for decades after the…

A new lipid nanoparticle system can deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) to the brain via intravenous injection. The findings pave the way for future treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and brain…

A study published in Scienc on humpback whale songs has provided remarkable insights into the nature of nonhuman animal communication, revealing a striking similarity between whale songs and human language….

Muscular dystrophy is a disease caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. The muscles of muscular dystrophy patients weaken and atrophy over time. Heart and breathing muscles may also eventually be affected….

Preeclampsia is a complication that arises in five to eight percent of pregnancies. It causes high blood pressure (hypertension) and may also cause premature birth, organ dysfunction. It can also increase the…

Bacterial pathogens can cause serious infections. So many of them are becoming resistant to the effects of antibiotics that resistant bacteria now contribute to the deaths of almost 5 million people every year…

Researchers from Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University and their colleagues have assembled chromosome-scale genomes for two critically endangered pangolin species: the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) and the

An international team of scientists has sequenced the genome of the yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), an economically important crop marketed for the elaboration of mate, the third-most widely consumed caffeine-containing infusion worldwide.