The Selfish Gene

The selfish gene debate: The power of stories in science and society

Kenrick Vezina | 
Science writer David Dobbs wrote an article late last year calling for a new narrative to help us understand evolution ...

Chemotherapy induces long-lasting epigenetic changes in blood cells

Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment ...
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Multiplex babies? New wrinkle on ‘new eugenics’ and the debate over 3-parent IVF babies

John de Dios | 
While the debate rages on about 3-parents IVF, there is already talk about an even more radical procedure: babies made ...
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Was Lamarck right? Epigenetic research suggests we might inherit learned traits. But how?

Kenrick Vezina | 
It seems almost certain that epigenetic effects -- an annotation to DNA that changes how genes are expressed -- can ...
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Video: When it comes to sports success, genes matter most

Davide Epstein | 
David Epstein, author of "The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance" discusses the ways that human biological ...
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Genetic odd couple: Humans traveling with (friendly?) infection-causing African bacteria for 100,000 years

Tabitha M. Powledge | 
Helicobacter pylori, which causes ulcers and stomach cancer, maybe the oldest our oldest bacterial infection: genetic studies suggest it came ...

Genetic switch controls muscles aging

Mohit Kumar Jolly | 
It is a sad fact that old age brings diseases. Many may not be life-threatening, but they make life less ...
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Brain science pioneer shifts focus of NIMH to basic neuroscience and genetics

Benedict Carey | 
Drain science pioneer Dr. Thomas R. Insel, now director of the National Institute of Mental Health, has sharply shifted the ...
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Ouch! Epigenetic changes dial your pain threshold up or down

Andy Coghlan | 
If you flinch where others merely frown, you might want to take a look at your lifestyle. That's because environmental ...

Epigenetic changes up your cancer risk as you age

Researchers from the NIH say they have demonstrated that a subset of human genomic sites that become increasingly methylated with ...

Epigenetic changes needed to regenerate nerves

Abby Olena | 
To regenerate after injury, a nerve cell must turn on gene programs that have been silenced since development. Epigenetic modifications, ...
stress

Baby genes reflect mom’s stress

Stress can affect a baby’s genes even before a mother conceives, research suggests. An Israeli study suggested that women under ...
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New technologies demand update to ethics on future genetic testing

Sara Hendren | 
As prenatal testing continues to advance, expectant parents are presented with more genetic information than ever before. But how should ...
epigenetics

Why are some children less prone to obesity? Epigenetics may offer clues

Russell Brandom | 
Recent studies on epigenetic inheritance are changing the way scientists view our biology, particularly for inherited factors like obesity or ...
sense of smell

Can we inherit fear of a smell? The latest on transgenerational epigenetics

Tabitha M. Powledge | 
Can humans inherit the experience of fear? Male mice trained to fear a particular harmless smell before they sire offspring ...
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Do animals inherit basic memories through sperm, epigenetics?

Virginia Hughes | 
New research from scientists at Emory University suggests that mice inherit specific smell memories from their fathers, even when the offspring have ...
DNA sequencing using graphene nanopores

Researchers extend human epigenomic map, possibilities of personalized medicine

Jeremy Summers | 
Harvard University scientists have extended our knowledge of human epigenomics, which could lead to a breakthrough in personalized medicine and ...

Gene defect ‘switched off’ in human tissue

Simon Hazelwood | 
Scientists have for the first time been able to switch on and off the effects of a genetic disease, myotonic dystrophy, ...
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The biology of identity

Jason Castro | 
Are your talents, traits, and insecurities so deeply embedded in your genes that they’re basically inevitable? ...

Genetic markers predict postpartum depression

Alexandra Sifferlin | 
The following is an edited excerpt. Researchers say that pregnant women may soon be able to take a blood test ...
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Economic recession can effect your genes

Andy Coghlan | 
New insights into how genes are triggered in times of stress suggest that we should be paying attention to the ...

The “junk” in your genetic trunk isn’t junk at all

Liz Granger | 
The non-coding or ‘junk’ regions can help switch genes on or off which, in turn, influences whether a cell makes ...

Identical twins may not be quite so identical

Tia Ghose | 
Identical twins may not be so identical after all. Even though identical twins supposedly share all of their DNA, they ...

How to make stem cells: Nuclear reprogramming moves a step forward

The idea of taking a mature cell and removing its identity (nuclear reprogramming) so that it can then become any ...
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Scientists cracking the epigenetic code

A team of researchers at The Australian National University is one step closer to better understanding how organisms function after ...

Researchers unravel the first epigenomes of chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Researchers of the University of Oviedo have contributed to decipher the first epigenomes of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Professor of Biochemistry ...

Genes and immune system shaped by childhood poverty, stress

A University of British Columbia and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) study has revealed that childhood poverty, stress ...
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