Genetics News

Researchers Identify Two Genes that Control REM Sleep

The acetylcholine pathway has been proposed to be important for wakefulness and REM sleep, but genetic evidence has been missing. Using a knockout of acetylcholine receptor genes, Niwa et al show that Chrm1 and Chrm3 double knockout chronically diminishes REM sleep to an undetectable level and causes a severe short-sleep phenotype. Image credit: Niwa et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.082.
Aug 31, 2018 by News Staff

An international group of scientists from Japan and Australia has identified two essential genes involved in the regulation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The acetylcholine pathway has been proposed to be important for wakefulness and REM sleep, but genetic evidence has been missing. Using a knockout of acetylcholine receptor genes, Niwa et al show that Chrm1 and Chrm3 double knockout chronically diminishes REM sleep to an undetectable level and...

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

‘Denisova 11’ Had Neanderthal Mother and Denisovan Father

Aug 23, 2018 by News Staff

Neanderthals and Denisovans are extinct groups of hominins that separated from each other more than 390,000 years ago. These two groups inhabited Eurasia...

An artistic conception of the early Earth. Image credit: Simone Marchi / NASA.

Common Ancestor of All Cellular Life on Earth Emerged Very Early in Planet’s History

Aug 23, 2018 by News Staff

New research from the Universities of Bristol and Bath suggests life originated on our planet a lot earlier than previously thought. An artistic conception...

Wheat field. Image credit: Pezibear.

Scientists Publish Fully Annotated Reference Genome of Bread Wheat

Aug 17, 2018 by News Staff

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published this week the first fully annotated reference genome of the bread wheat (Triticum...

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Image credit: Dia Picard.

Researchers Sequence Red Fox Genome

Aug 8, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has successfully sequenced the genome of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). The red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Image credit: Dia...

Reconstruction of Homo floresiensis. Image credit: Kinez Riza / Atelier Elisabeth Daynes, Sangiran Museum.

Flores Pygmies Show No Genetic Link to Mysterious Homo floresiensis

Aug 3, 2018 by News Staff

Modern pygmies living in a village near the Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores, where fossils of the dwarfed human species Homo floresiensis...

Although primarily influenced by environmental and social factors, years of schooling are also influenced by genes associated with cognitive function such as memory and personality traits. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Researchers Identify 1,271 Genetic Variants Linked to Educational Attainment

Jul 25, 2018 by News Staff

A multinational team led by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Univesities of Queensland and Southern California, Los Angeles, has conducted...

Chara braunii. Image credit: Show Ryu / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Aquatic Alga Genome Contains Ancient Land Plant Genes

Jul 17, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers, led by Kanazawa and Kobe Universities, Japan, and the Universities of Marburg and Freiburg, Germany, has sequenced...

Prehistoric Central European women’s manual labor was tougher than rowing in today’s boat crews.

Southeast Asians Derive Ancestry from Four Ancient Populations

Jul 13, 2018 by News Staff

Modern-day Southeast Asian populations are the result of mixing among four ancient populations, including multiple waves of genetic material from more...

Canadian Eskimo dogs. Illustration by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

New World’s First Dogs Came from Siberia: Study

Jul 9, 2018 by News Staff

According to a study published in the journal Science, the earliest New World dogs were not domesticated from North American wolves; instead, they form...

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Image credit: Holger Detje.

Koala Genome Sequenced

Jul 3, 2018 by News Staff

The Koala Genome Consortium, a research group that includes 54 scientists from 29 different institutions across seven countries, has produced the first...

The C6orf106 gene controls the production of proteins involved in infectious diseases, cancer and diabetes. Image credit: CSIRO.

Critical Immunity-Related Gene Identified

Jul 2, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, has identified an ancient gene that plays...

Hoaxed photo of the Loch Ness ‘monster’ from April 21, 1934.

Researchers Hunting for Environmental DNA in Loch Ness

Jul 2, 2018 by News Staff

An international research team led by University of Otago’s Professor Neil Gemmell is using the latest DNA technologies to compile a census of life in...

Giant pandas are found in the mountains of central China in dense bamboo and coniferous forests at altitudes of 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1,500-3,000 m). Image credit: Chester Ho.

Mitochondrial DNA of 22,000-Year-Old Giant Panda Reveals Long-Lost Lineage

Jun 20, 2018 by News Staff

A research team led by scientists at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has analyzed mitochondrial...

The NOTCH2NL genes arose in human ancestors just before a dramatic increase in brain size and are involved in genetic defects associated with neurological disorders. Image credit: Gerd Altmann / Sci-News.com.

Newly-Identified Human-Specific Genes Influence Brain Size

Jun 1, 2018 by News Staff

A set of three nearly identical genes found only in humans, NOTCH2NL, appears to play a critical role in the development of our large brains, according...

A spectral tarsier (Tarsius tarsier) feeding on a grasshopper in Tangkoko National Park, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tarsiers have five chitinase genes to digest the high amount of chitin in their insectivorous diet, which likely represents the ancestral condition of all placental animals, including humans. Image credit: Quentin Martinez / University of California, Berkeley.

Common Ancestor of All Placental Mammals Was Insect-Eater: Study

May 21, 2018 by News Staff

Humans are known to have one functioning and three non-functioning chitinase genes — those that make an enzyme that digests the insect exoskeletal...

Lipson et al identify at least three major waves of human migration into Southeast Asia over the last 50,000 years.

Ancient DNA Study Reveals Prehistory of Southeast Asia

May 21, 2018 by News Staff

The first whole-genome analysis of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia, defined as the area east of India and south of China, identifies at least three...

Meta-Analysis Identifies 30 New Genetic Risk Factors for Major Depression

Apr 30, 2018 by News Staff

A new genome-wide association meta-analysis has identified 44 genomic variants (loci) that have a significant association with major depression. Of these...

Indigenous Bajau People Evolved Larger Spleens for Free-Diving

Apr 25, 2018 by News Staff

The indigenous Bajau people of Southeast Asia spend their whole lives at sea, working 8-hr diving shifts with traditional equipment and short breaks to...

Zeng et al detected signatures of natural selection in the genetic architecture of 23 complex traits.

Study: Natural Selection Still at Work in Humans

Apr 19, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from Australia, the Netherlands, Estonia and the United States has detected significant signatures of natural selection...

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