genes

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Irish Bones May Settle 'Archaeological Controversy'

What researchers learned from 4 sets of remains

(Newser) - It's a "long-standing archaeological controversy": whether the Irish shifted from hunter-gatherers to farmers because of adaptation or migration. A new DNA analysis of remains from several people, dating back thousands of years, may settle the question—as well as provide a better sense of where the Irish came...

Your Father's Sperm Might Be Making You Fat

Dad's weight when he conceives children may affect them, study says

(Newser) - Having trouble maintaining your ideal weight? Blame your dad's sperm. That may sound odd, but a study published Thursday in Cell Metabolism found that a man's weight may change the information carried in his sperm and predispose his children to obesity, reports the New York Times . Researchers compared...

This Artist's DNA Could Be Yours for the Right Price

'An extremely personal self portrait'

(Newser) - A 29-year-old Dutch artist is selling what he calls "an extremely personal self portrait." How extremely personal? Let's just say it's everything that makes him him—genetically speaking. Jeroen van Loon has made his entire DNA sequence available to the highest bidder as part of a...

Scientist Tackles 'Last Major Disease We Don't Know Anything About'

Whitney Dafoe no longer walks, talks, or eats, and is fed intravenously

(Newser) - Whitney Dafoe packed a lot in his first quarter-century of life. The son of renowned scientist Ronald Davis, the head of the Genome Technology Center at Stanford University, was an award-winning photographer who traveled the world and worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign. Now 31 and diagnosed with systemic exertion...

Secret to Longevity? Deleting Certain Genes
Secret to Longevity?
Deleting Certain Genes
NEW STUDY
Oct 14, 2015 7:49 AM CDT

Secret to Longevity? Deleting Certain Genes

Scientists discover 238 genes linked to aging

(Newser) - Ten years into research they call "exhaustive," scientists at the University of Washington and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging are reporting in the journal Cell Metabolism that they've isolated 238 genes linked to aging in yeast cells. After working with undergrads to painstakingly delete a...

Study: DNA Test Can Predict Whether You're Gay

Potential for misuse troubles lead scientist, who's just left the lab

(Newser) - UCLA scientists think they've developed the first test that can accurately predict whether a man is gay based on his DNA, and all it takes is a swab of saliva, reports New Scientist . The researchers examined 400,000 epigenetic tags—"chemicals that latch onto DNA and help turn...

New Test Can Predict When You&#39;ll Die
 New Test Can 
 Predict When 
 You'll Die 
STUDY SAYS
Sep 7, 2015 10:31 AM CDT

New Test Can Predict When You'll Die

'Gene signature' can be used to predict onset of diseases

(Newser) - "Health" and "age" are two distinct concepts, and no matter how old you are chronologically, a simple blood test can help determine what King's College London researchers call your "biological age"—which may be able to predict your longevity, the BBC reports. A study published...

There Is One Proven Way to Prevent a Hangover

Neither water nor fatty foods appear to make a difference

(Newser) - Bad news for those who like to imbibe copious amounts of alcohol. The only proven way to prevent a hangover is to, well, imbibe smaller amounts of alcohol. Researchers tested various hangover "cures" on 826 Dutch students and found that neither drinking water nor eating fatty foods will "...

Holocaust Survivors' Trauma Lives On in Kids' Genes

Study may explain why offspring are more at risk for stress disorders

(Newser) - Holocaust survivors pass on trauma through their genes, making their children and possibly even grandchildren more susceptible to PTSD and other stress disorders, according to new research . The Guardian reports researchers looked at 32 Jewish men and women who survived traumatic experiences at the hands of Nazis during World War...

Shorter Women Tend to Have Shorter Pregnancies
Shorter Women Tend to Have Shorter Pregnancies
NEW STUDY
Aug 19, 2015 12:35 PM CDT

Shorter Women Tend to Have Shorter Pregnancies

Maternal height appears to influence gestational age

(Newser) - The height and weight of a newborn baby is largely governed by his or her own genes, but it's the height of the mother that's giving researchers a telltale sign, reports the Telegraph . Specifically, shorter women have shorter pregnancies and thus more premature babies, report investigators at the...

Tongue-Rolling Myth Totally 'Debunked'

Biologist John McDonald aims to set the record straight

(Newser) - For anyone who can still proudly recall one factoid learned in high school biology—that the ability to roll one's tongue is genetic—bad news: You learned it wrong. John McDonald, an evolutionary biologist, is out to debunk what he calls a myth about the genetic roots of tongue-rolling,...

In a Risky First, Scientists Edit Human Embryos' DNA

Experiment in China has limited success, raises host of ethical issues

(Newser) - Advances in DNA research are fairly common these days, but a new study out of China seems to qualify for bombshell status: Scientists there edited the genes of human embryos for the first time, reports Nature . This gets into controversial and "ethically charged" territory, notes the MIT Technology Review ...

Study: Why Mosquitoes Like You More

Study suggests our genes control scents that attract or repel mosquitoes

(Newser) - Mosquito bites aren't just annoying. They can be lethal, especially in certain parts of the world where they spread malaria and Chikungunya. Now a pilot study out of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine suggests that our genes dictate whether mosquitoes are attracted to us, researchers report...

Europeans&#39; White Skin Came Later Than Thought
 Europeans' White Skin
Came Later Than Thought
study says
Apr 7, 2015 5:45 PM CDT

Europeans' White Skin Came Later Than Thought

Study suggests trait emerged about 8K years ago

(Newser) - Science notes that Europe is often thought of as the "ancestral home of white people." But a new DNA study suggests that pale skin and other traits we associate with the continent may have emerged only within the last 8,000 years—a "relatively recent" occurrence....

Driving Vast Majority of Autism: Genes
 Driving Vast Majority 
 of Autism: Genes 
NEW STUDY
Mar 5, 2015 9:51 AM CST

Driving Vast Majority of Autism: Genes

Environmental factors likely still play some role

(Newser) - In somewhere between 74% and 98% of autism spectrum disorder cases, genes are to blame. So say researchers out of King's College London in the journal JAMA Psychiatry after studying both identical and fraternal twins. In fact, hundreds of genes could contribute to the development of autism, although because...

Most Cancer Types Boil Down to Bad Luck
 Most Cancer Types 
 Boil Down to Bad Luck 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 4, 2015 6:51 AM CST

Most Cancer Types Boil Down to Bad Luck

Study: Heredity and lifestyle play a role in only 1 in 3 cancer types

(Newser) - Roughly two-thirds of cancer types researchers recently studied largely appear to be the result of random mutations and not inherited genes or environmental and lifestyle factors. Reporting in the journal Science , researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine investigated 31 common cancer types and found that 22 of...

Scientists Link 2 Genes to Violent Behavior

Criminals in Finland more likely to have mutated versions

(Newser) - A new study might be inching us closer to the possibility that the worst criminals can blame their behavior on bad genes. In the study of 900 convicts in Finland, researchers found that those with mutated forms of two genes were 13 times more likely to have a history of...

How Your DNA Affects Your Coffee Craving

8 genes found to be at work

(Newser) - Whether you drink a cup or a pot of coffee per day depends in part on your DNA, as scientists have previously shown. Now, however, a research team has gone further, naming eight specific genes—six of them newly identified—that play a role in your coffee intake, the AP...

Scientists Are Decoding the Genetics of Height

They've now identified nearly 700 genetic variants related to height

(Newser) - Scientists are knee-deep in a freakishly large study (part of the aptly named GIANT Consortium) to better understand the genetics at play in human height. They tell Reuters that height can tell us a lot about various aspects of human health—including diseases like "obesity, diabetes, asthma that are...

Elephants Win Most Discerning Nose Award

They have twice as many olfactory genes as dogs and 5 times as many as humans

(Newser) - Dogs may hold the reputation as having the best noses among mammals, but when it comes to the number of genes associated with smell, the elephant stands alone. By a mile. New findings published in Genome Research suggest that African elephants have 2,000 active olfactory genes, the highest number...

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