Genetics News

Groundcherry Could Be Agriculture’s Next Big Berry Crop

The groundcherry (Physalis pruinosa). Image credit: Steve Buissinne.
Oct 4, 2018 by News Staff

The groundcherry (Physalis pruinosa), also called ‘husk cherry’ and ‘strawberry tomato,’ is native to Central and South America. This tropical-tasting fruit is approximately the same size as a cherry tomato, but with a much sweeter flavor. It contains vitamins B and C, beta-carotene, phytosterols and antioxidants, and has anti-inflammatory and medicinal properties. To prepare the fruit for mainstream farming, a team of researchers led by the...

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A cane toad (Rhinella marina), adult female. Image credit: Bernard Dupont / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Invasive Cane Toad

Sep 24, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has sequenced and analyzed the draft genome of the cane toad (Rhinella marina), a poisonous amphibian native to Central...

Rimfeld et al use twin analyses and genome-wide polygenic score analyses of longitudinal data from the Twins Early Development Study from age 7 to age 16, including GCSE scores, to investigate three issues -- the stability of general educational achievement, the stability of achievement in specific subjects, and the contribution of general cognitive ability to the stability of educational achievement. Image credit: Andrew Tan.

Study: Genetic Factors are Key to Academic Success

Sep 6, 2018 by News Staff

According to a large new study of twins, genetics explains more than 60% of individual differences in school achievement. Rimfeld et al use twin analyses...

The poppy (Papaver somniferum). Image credit: Sabine Löwer.

Scientists Sequence Poppy Genome

Aug 31, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Australia, China and the United Kingdom has sequenced and analyzed the genome of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), a species...

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.

Researchers Identify Two Genes that Control REM Sleep

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)...

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...

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