Kenrick Vezina
Regrowing limbs? Gene map of how lizards regrow tails offers insight to human regenerative medicine
Geneticists have mapped the process by which the green anole lizard can regrow a functional tail. This process may offer ...
Global food shortage? How advanced breeding could domesticate 50,000 wild, edible plants
We rely on less than 150 of the world's edible plants for most of our nourishment and just three make ...
Why do strawberries taste like straw, and can genetics bring flavor back to the big red berry
The modern supermarket strawberry looks sumptuous but often tastes like...well, straw. With a bit of help from modern genetics, can ...
Malaria vaccine? Genetic engineering turns parasite into vaccine candidate
By knocking out key genes, researchers have created a version of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that is harmless yet still ...
Can the same regulatory systems that now oversee GMOs work for synthetic biology?
As synthetic biology is poised to leave labs and enter our lives, questions about regulation are cropping up. Can existing ...
Do cancers act as a DNA time machine?
Are cancers an evolutionary atavism, revealing the genetic history of humankind? Might physicists be the key to winning the War ...
Human enhancement upsets extremists on left and right
The prospects of a fast-approaching Age of Enhancement evokes caution in almost everyone, scientist or otherwise. It has been the ...
Chimpanzee’s highly heritable intelligence window on human IQ
General intelligence in chimpanzees appears to be about 50 percent heritable, which lines up with work on the genetics of ...
Is “reductionism” in behavioral genetics a boon or curse?
Reductionism haunts modern genetics, but how has this approach — akin to taking apart a watch to see how it ...
How do hummingbirds find life-sustaining nectar without sweet-taste receptor genes?
Birds can't taste sweet, they lack all traces of genes for sweet-taste receptors. So how is it that hummingbirds -- ...
Is epigenetics being exploited by the media?
Epigenetics has seen a flurry of research and headlines lately, achieving science-buzzword status. But is the immature nature of the ...
Your brain is making subliminal, near-instantaneous judgements of people based on their faces
Your brain is making a snap judgement on the trustworthiness of each stranger you see based on their faces -- ...
Taking ancestry into account with personalized medicine
A study of Mexican genetics reveals staggering diversity. In an increasingly globalized world, with human populations mixing at unprecedented rates, ...
Only need four hours of sleep per night? New-found ‘Thatcher’ gene mutation may explain why
Do you have a friend who can get by on just a few hours of sleep without any ill effects? ...
10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery? That’s not what our genes say.
Talent, as encoded in our genes, may mean more than practice when it comes to mastery. Identical twins who practiced ...
Y chromosome here to stay; ‘Death of Men’ has been greatly exaggerated
Over the last year, some headlines have claimed that the Y chromosome -- a genetic wasteland which is until recently ...
Athletes and gay men: Behavioral genetics reveals puzzle pieces, not prophecy
Every day we are told of a new link between our genes and behavior, from sports to sexuality. How should ...
Talking about genetic disorders: How much information do we need—or want?
It may be easy to dismiss appeals to scientific literacy as high-minded, idealistic and impractical; but geneticist Morgan Thompson believes ...
Epigenetics can drive cancer, may be target for new treatments
The first direct evidence that epigenetics alone -- tweaks to gene expression -- can drive cancer in mice demonstrates that ...
Google wants to define health using Big Data
Google's getting in on the big-genome-analysis game with the "Baseline Project," which seeks to examine gather information (genomic and otherwise) ...
Largest-ever genetic study of schizophrenia cements genetic links
By identifying more than 100 new distinct genetic regions associated with schizophrenia, an international team of hundreds of scientists may ...
NASA says it will find extraterrestrial life soon: Will it be DNA-based?
NASA says it's closer than ever to finding extraterrestrial life, but if and when scientists find life outside of Earth, ...
Transgenic, sex-swapped algae reveal potential genetic ‘master switch’ in evolution of the sexes
An experiment in making sex-swapped algae has unveiled a genetic "master switch" in the evolution of sex differences, one of ...
Strawberries and lawsuits: Future of favorite fruit hinges on intellectual property
When one of the world's foremost strawberry breeders decided to leave UC Davis, it sparked a controversy culminating in a ...
Shaking up science with transgenerational epigenetics and blurred species boundaries
A "top five ideas shaking up science" list from The Guardian and author Michael Brooks hits on two of the ...
T-cells trained to fight viruses offer hope for bone marrow transplant patients
A team at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas has devised a much more efficient method for 'training' killer ...
Shitty story: Oldest-ever human fossil feces suggests Neanderthal’s omnivory
Poop is the 'perfect evidence' when it comes to answering questions about diet, and a record-setting new find of fossilized ...
Changing climates, mixing genes: Global warming may cause an increase in animal hybrids
A warming climate is shrinking many species' (e.g. polar bears, Bicknell's thrushes) habitats, to their detriment. It's also forcing many ...