Genetics News

Researchers Identify 104 High-Risk Genes for Schizophrenia

Wang et al predicted a set of high-confidence risk genes for schizophrenia; these genes account for a significantly enriched heritability; they are predominantly expressed in brain tissues, especially prenatally, and are enriched for targets of approved drugs, suggesting opportunities to reposition existing drugs for schizophrenia. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.
Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by Vanderbilt University scientists has identified a set of high-confidence risk genes for schizophrenia. The team’s results support the view that schizophrenia is a developmental disease, one which potentially can be detected and treated even before the onset of symptoms. Wang et al predicted a set of high-confidence risk genes for schizophrenia; these genes account for a significantly enriched heritability; they are predominantly...

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Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Two Independent Denisovan Lineages Contributed to Modern Papuan Genomes: Study

Apr 12, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Cell, modern Papuans carry hundreds of gene variants from two Denisovan lineages — distinct from...

This image depicts a Pleistocene landscape in northern Spain with woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), equids, a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), and European cave lions (Panthera leo spelaea). Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Study: Neanderthals, Woolly Mammoths Shared Genetic Traits

Apr 10, 2019 by News Staff

Neanderthals and woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) co-existed in similar geographic and environmental European settings during the Middle and Upper...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum). Image credit: Christine Dautin.

Durum Wheat Genome Sequenced

Apr 9, 2019 by News Staff

A multinational team of researchers has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum), a cereal grain mainly...

Members of the genus Juglans are wind-pollinated trees in the family Juglandaceae.

Scientists Sequence Genomes of English Walnut and Its Wild Relative

Apr 2, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by scientists from the University of California, Davis, has used a unique approach to sequence the genomes of the English walnut (Juglans...

Depiction of the Jarijari (Nyeri Nyeri) people near Merbein engaged in recreational activities, including a type of Aboriginal football, by William Blandowski & Gustav Mützel, 1857.

Hepatitis B DNA Helps Trace History and Movement of First Australians

Mar 21, 2019 by News Staff

It’s widely accepted that continental Sahul, the combined landmass of Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania, was settled very early in human history. But...

Yamagata et al succeeded in observing the signs of the biological activity of 28,140-year-old mammoth nuclei in mouse oocytes. In this image, proteins that form chromosomes (red) and proteins that form dividing spindles (green) gather around a mammoth cell nucleus (upper right) in the mouse oocyte. Image credit: Yamagata et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40546-1.

Researchers ‘Revive’ Woolly Mammoth Cell Nuclei

Mar 14, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

In 2010, the 28,140-year-old partial carcass of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), nicknamed ‘Yuka,’ was found in Siberian permafrost. Now a...

Lane et al identified 57 loci for self-reported insomnia symptoms in the UK Biobank (n = 453,379) and confirmed their effects on self-reported insomnia symptoms in the HUNT Study (n = 14,923 cases and 47,610 controls), physician-diagnosed insomnia in the Partners Biobank (n = 2,217 cases and 14,240 controls), and accelerometer-derived measures of sleep efficiency and sleep duration in the UK Biobank (n = 83,726). Image credit: Medical Gallery of Mikael Häggström, 2014 / WikiJournal of Medicine, doi: 10.15347/wjm/2014.008.

Researchers Identify New Gene Regions Associated with Insomnia

Mar 11, 2019 by News Staff

Insomnia is a common disorder linked with adverse long-term medical and psychiatric outcomes. It affects 10-20% of adults, and several twin and family...

The Antarctic blackfin icefish (Chaenocephalus aceratus). Image credit: Thomas Desvignes.

Icefish Genome Reveals Adaptations to Extreme Antarctic Environments

Mar 4, 2019 by News Staff

A multinational team of researchers has successfully sequenced the genome of the Antarctic blackfin icefish (Chaenocephalus aceratus), opening a genetic...

Sesquizygosis -- whereby twins are genetically identical to each other with respect to one parent but differ from each other by approximately 50% with respect to the composition of DNA inherited from the other parent -- is a third form of twinning. Genetically, sesquizygosis can be considered to be on a continuum between monozygosis and dizygosis. It probably arises after heterogoneic assortment of two paternal genomes and one maternal genome during the first postzygotic cleavage division. Image credit: Gabbett et al, doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1701313.

Extremely Rare Sesquizygotic Twins Identified in Australia

Mar 4, 2019 by News Staff

Twins are traditionally classified as monozygotic (identical) or dizygotic (fraternal). Monozygotic twinning results in genetically identical individuals,...

This illustration shows the structure of hachimoji DNA, which uses the four informational ingredients of regular DNA (green, red, blue, yellow) in addition to four new ones (cyan, pink, purple, orange). Image credit: Indiana University School of Medicine.

Researchers Create Eight-Letter Genetic System: Hachimoji DNA

Feb 25, 2019 by News Staff

DNA is naturally composed of four basic molecules called nucleotides (commonly known as ‘letters’) — A (adenine), T (thymine), C (cytosine) and...

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). Image credit: Byron Dilkes, Danah Divers.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Great White Shark

Feb 19, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the United States and Europe has successfully sequenced the genome of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)...

Beta-carboline compounds offer great promise for the treatment of alcoholism. Image credit: Imagens Evangelicas / CC BY 2.0.

Researchers Identify Gene as Target for Alcoholism Prevention and Treatment

Feb 15, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health and Sciences University has found that a gene called the G-protein...

Drawing of the male and female huon astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi), also known as the Rothschild’s bird-of-paradise, by Ellis Rowan.

Researchers Sequence Genomes of Five Bird-of-Paradise Species

Jan 30, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of representatives from all five major clades within the birds-of-paradise family...

Dry age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of vision loss in people over the age of 50. Image credit: Pexels.

Scientists Find Three New Genes Linked to Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Jan 18, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by a University of Liverpool scientist has discovered three new genes associated with increased risk of age-related...

Sima et al found that cis-regulatory elements control the 3D compartmentalization, architecture of the genome, and replication timing in a CTCF-independent manner. Image credit: Sima et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.036.

Scientists Solve Mystery of How and When DNA Replicates

Jan 3, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by Florida State University scientists has demonstrated that there are specific points along the DNA molecule that control replication....

Researchers Identify Genetic Variant Responsible for Tuberculosis Vulnerability

Jan 3, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by Rockefeller University scientists has discovered a genetic variant that makes people more vulnerable to tuberculosis, a disease...

The Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana). Image credit: Shauryankar Lingwal / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Himalayan Marmot

Dec 28, 2018 by News Staff

Researchers have for the first time mapped the genome of the Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana), a hibernating mammal that inhabits the high-elevation...

Genetically modified pothos ivy (Epipremnum aureum). Image credit: Mark Stone / University of Washington.

Genetically Modified Houseplant Can Clean Indoor Air

Dec 27, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Washington has genetically modified a common houseplant, the pothos ivy (Epipremnum aureum), to efficiently remove...

The common primrose (Primula vulgaris). Image credit: GT 1976 / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Primrose Genome Sequenced

Dec 20, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of East Anglia, Earlham Institute and the UK’s National Institute for Agricultural Botany has successfully...

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