Pennsylvania State University
Deformed wing virus (DWV), one of the deadliest threats to bee health, seems to be evolving to be less harmful
This year’s cold and flu season is bringing good news for honey bees: Penn State researchers have found that the ...
Why are some people more prone to allergies than others? Here’s how our genes make a difference
New research is bolstering scientific understanding behind why some people are more prone to allergies than others ...
Podcast: ‘Adoption, Twins and the Genetics of Personality’ — Childhood adoption study informs nature vs nurture debate
Social scientists have long sought to better understand how and why different behavioral traits develop in different individuals. The question ...
Podcast: Evolution of hair texture — Did curls help early humans survive?
In the latest episode of the Tracking Traits podcast, postdoctoral researcher Tina Lasisi relayed her aims as a scientist working ...
300,000 Americans contract Lyme disease each year. A gene editing solution could reduce that dramatically
Reducing tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, may now be possible thanks to two new gene editing methods developed by ...
Citrus disease threatens $17 billion in annual sales of fresh fruit and juice. Early detection using CRISPR gene editing could help isolate infected trees and prop up an industry in economic free fall
Penn State and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists have used cutting-edge CRISPR/Cas technology to develop a diagnostic test that could ...
‘Little crop of horrors’? Genes harvested from carnivorous plants and genetically engineered into tomatoes and other crops could fend off pests
They won’t devour insects with leafy jaws, but with help from carnivorous plant genes, tomatoes, tobacco and other crops could ...
How our genes shape our facial features
"The face tells the outside world about your identity, who you are related to, where your ancestors come from and ...
Epigenetic breeding could yield enhanced crops—and end run public’s fear of ‘GMOs’
Novel grafted plants — consisting of rootstock epigenetically modified to “believe” it has been under stress — joined to an ...
Antioxidant-rich corn could mitigate symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, study finds
Flavonoids from a specific line of corn act as anti-inflammatory agents in the guts of mice with an inflammatory-bowel-disease-like condition, ...
CRISPR could stop destructive whiteflies from infecting food crops with viral pathogens
Whiteflies are among the most important agricultural pests in the world, yet they have been difficult to genetically manipulate and ...
CRISPR could help immunize Africa’s staple crop sorghum against destructive witchweed parasite
Sorghum crops in areas where the agricultural parasite striga, also known as witchweed, is common are more likely to have ...
AI-powered smartphone app helps safeguard African staple crops against climate change
A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool available for free in a smartphone app can predict near-term crop productivity for farmers ...
Natural GMOs: Parasitic plants steal host DNA to siphon off needed resources
Some parasitic plants steal genetic material from their host plants and use the stolen genes to more effectively siphon off ...
Why it might be possible for children to inherit their parents’ morals
A new baby is often welcomed with speculation about whether they got their eyes and nose from mom or dad, ...
Gene silencing could ‘fool’ plants into surviving harsh environments
By temporarily silencing the expression of a critical gene, researchers fooled soybean plants into sensing they were under siege, encountering ...
CRISPR chocolate? Gene editing boosts cacao trees’ disease resistance
Use of the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 could help to breed cacao trees that exhibit desirable traits such as enhanced ...
GMO rescue of American chestnut tree may take longer than anticipated
The nearly century-old effort to employ selective breeding to rescue the American chestnut, which has been rendered functionally extinct by ...
Honey bee defenses could be strengthened through genes linked to stress resilience
A core set of genes involved in the responses of honey bees to multiple diseases caused by viruses and parasites ...
Widely-held belief that food production must double by 2050 to feed growing population ‘not supported by data’
"Food production must double by 2050 to feed the world's growing population." This truism has been repeated so often in ...
Sneak attack: Parasitic weeds may steal genes from plants to arm themselves
Sneaky parasitic weeds may be able to steal genes from the plants they are attacking and then use those genes ...
Crop biotechnology and the challenges of feeding a world of ten billion
Note: This study by Drew Kershen and Nina Fedoroff is available for free download at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2542310 The latest United Nations population ...
Genome instability studies could change treatment for cancer and other diseases
The following is an edited excerpt. As our cells grow, reproduce, and die, DNA is repeatedly replicated and repaired, and ...
