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Parkinson’s disease. Image credit: Blausen Gallery 2014 / Wikiversity Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.15347/wjm/2014.010.

Gene Mutation Associated with Parkinson’s Initiates Disease Outside of Brain

Mar 22, 2018 by News Staff

A mutation in the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene — the most common cause of inherited Parkinson’s disease — alters cells circulating...

Empathy is the ability to recognize and respond to the emotional states of other individuals. Image credit: John Hain.

Our Genes Play Role in Empathy: Study

Mar 21, 2018 by News Staff

How empathic we are is partly a result of our genes, according to the results of the largest genome-wide association study of its kind. Empathy is the...

Phenotypes of osteoarthritis: evidence suggests that patients with osteoarthritis fall into multiple phenotypic subgroups defined on the basis of the main driver of disease, one of which is a distinct metabolic phenotype, although all osteoarthritis phenotypes probably involve metabolic alterations; cartilage, bone and synovium are all affected by external and internal drivers of disease such as inflammation, injury or biomechanical alterations, metabolic reprogramming and immunomodulation, but different synovial joint tissues dominate the disease in different patients with osteoarthritis. Image credit: Mobasheri et al / Nature Reviews Rheumatology, doi: 10.1038/nrrheum.2017.50.

Researchers Identify Nine New Genes for Osteoarthritis

Mar 19, 2018 by News Staff

A multinational group of scientists led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute has discovered nine novel genes for osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease...

Solenodon Genome Sequenced

Mar 19, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists has sequenced and assembled the genome of a venomous shrew-like insectivore called the Hispaniolan solenodon. The Hispaniolan...

Hunter-gatherers. Image credit: T.P.S. Dave.

Humans Interbred with Denisovans Twice in History, Researchers Discover

Mar 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Washington and Princeton University has found that the genomes of two groups of modern humans with Denisovan...

Malik et al conducted a multiancestry genome-wide-association meta-analysis in 521,612 individuals (67,162 cases and 454,450 controls) and discovered 22 new stroke risk loci, bringing the total to 32. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Scientists Identify 22 New Genetic Risk Factors for Stroke

Mar 14, 2018 by News Staff

A large-scale international collaboration called MEGASTROKE has identified 22 new genetic risk factors for stroke, thus tripling the number of gene regions...

A herd of African elephants in South Africa. Image credit: Coco Parisienne.

Scientists Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Elephants

Feb 28, 2018 by News Staff

Elephants were once among the most widespread megafaunal families. However, only three species exist today: two species of the genus Loxodonta, the forest...

Tasmanian tigers (Thylacinus cynocephalus) in captivity. Image credit: University of Melbourne / Museums Victoria.

Tasmanian Tiger Genome Sequenced

Feb 26, 2018 by News Staff

Scientists have produced the first high-quality genomic sequence for the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also known as the thylacine. Tasmanian...

Some of the Botai horses were found to carry genetic variants causing white and leopard coat spotting patterns. Image credit: Ludovic Orlando / Sean Goddard / Alan Outram.

Research Sheds New Light on Origins of Domestic and Przewalski’s Horses

Feb 26, 2018 by News Staff

New research overturns a long-held assumption that Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii), a rare and endangered animal native to the steppes...

Cheddar Man’s facial reconstruction. Image credit: University College London / Natural History Museum, London / Tom Barnes / Channel 4.

Cheddar Man’s Face Revealed

Feb 20, 2018 by News Staff

Cheddar Man — a hunter-gatherer who lived 10,000 years ago — had blue eyes, dark colored curly hair and ‘dark to black’ skin pigmentation,...

The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). Image credit: Ben Pélissié / University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Colorado Potato Beetle

Feb 1, 2018 by News Staff

Researchers have for the first time mapped the entire genome of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), one of the most challenging agricultural...

The Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum). Image credit: Bouboulski / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Axolotl Genome Sequenced

Jan 31, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of researchers has successfully sequenced, assembled and analyzed the genome of the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), an enigmatic...

According to Seaborne et al, ‘muscle memory’ exists at DNA level. Image credit: Composita.

Human Muscles Possess ‘Memory’ of Earlier Growth — at DNA Level: Study

Jan 31, 2018 by News Staff

Human skeletal muscles have an epigenetic memory of earlier encounters with growth, according to a Keele University-led study. According to Seaborne et...

Liu et al demonstrate that induced pluripotency can be achieved through targeted activation of endogenous Oct4 or Sox2 genes. With CRISPR activation, the promoter and enhancer are specifically remodeled, Oct4 or Sox2 is derepressed in fibroblasts, and reprogramming is triggered toward pluripotency. Image credit: Liu et al, doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.12.001.

Scientists Create First Stem Cells Using CRISPR Technology

Jan 20, 2018 by News Staff

In a scientific first, a research team led by Gladstone Institutes scientists turned mouse skin cells into so-called induced pluripotent stem cells by...

European river lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) in Pirita river, Estonia. Image credit: Tiit Hunt / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Genes that Repair Spinal Cord in Fish also Present in Mammals, Researchers Discover

Jan 18, 2018 by News Staff

Many of the genes involved in natural repair of the injured spinal cord of a fish called the lamprey are also active in the repair of the peripheral nervous...

A scientific illustration of the Upward Sun River camp in what is now Interior Alaska. Image credit: Eric S. Carlson / Ben A. Potter.

Ancient Beringians: 11,500-Year-Old Genome Reveals Previously Unknown Native American Population

Jan 4, 2018 by News Staff

Genetic analysis of DNA from a female infant found at the Upward Sun River archaeological site in Alaska has revealed a previously unknown Native American...

Iberian ribbed newts (Pleurodeles waltl). Image credit: Peter Halasz / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Salamander Genome

Dec 22, 2017 by Natali Anderson

An international team of researchers led by Karolinska Institutet scientists has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of a species of salamander...

Andatu, the first Sumatran rhino to be born at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, and his mother, Ratu. Image credit: S. Ellis / International Rhino Foundation / CC BY 2.0.

Sumatran Rhinoceros Genome Sequenced

Dec 15, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has produced the first whole-genome sequence for the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), the...

DNA rendering of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa viewed with atomic force microscopy. Image credit: Tikhomirov et al.

Researchers ‘Paint’ World’s Smallest Mona Lisa

Dec 11, 2017 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Caltech has created the smallest version of the Mona Lisa ever — out of DNA. The work is described in a paper appearing in...