Genetics

An international team of scientists from Australia, the Netherlands, Estonia and the United States has detected significant signatures of natural selection in the human genome that influence traits associated with fertility and heart function. Zeng et al detected signatures of natural selection in the genetic architecture of 23 complex traits. …

Researchers have discovered 124 genes that play a major role in determining human hair color variation. The findings were published online this week in the journal Nature Genetics. Hysi et al identified 123 autosomal and one X-chromosome loci significantly associated with hair color. Image credit: Kristyna Matlachova. In order to …

A new study published online in the journal eLife indicates that satellite DNA — commonly called ‘junk’ DNA — performs the vital function of ensuring that chromosomes bundle correctly inside the cell’s nucleus, which is necessary for cell survival; and this function appears to be conserved across many species. Jagannathan …

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an egg-laying mammal which, alongside the echidna, occupies a unique place in the mammalian family tree. The unique creature had its genome sequenced a decade ago, revealing its unique genetic makeup and its divergence from the rest of the mammals around 160 million years ago. …

A new genetic cause of an autosomal-dominant corneal endothelial dystrophy has been discovered in a study led by University College London scientists. Posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy is a rare autosomal-dominant disorder, primarily affecting the corneal endothelium and Descemet membrane. Image credit: Pexels. Corneal endothelial dystrophies are a group of inherited …

University of Lincoln researcher Malgorzata Pilot and colleagues have found small blocks of dog ancestry in the genomes of 62% Eurasian grey wolves. Published in the journal Evolutionary Applications, their work suggests that wolf-dog hybridization has been geographically widespread in Europe and Asia and has been occurring for centuries; the …

A mutation in the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene — the most common cause of inherited Parkinson’s disease — alters cells circulating outside the brain, not within, offering a new understanding of what causes the disease. The most common Parkinson’s gene mutation may change how immune cells react …

An international team of scientists has sequenced the genomes of five Neanderthals who lived around 47,000 to 39,000 years ago (that is, late Neanderthals), and found that these individuals are all more closely related to the Neanderthals who contributed DNA to early modern humans than an approximately 120,000-year-old Neanderthal from …

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

A multinational group of scientists led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute has discovered nine novel genes for osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease in which a person’s joints become damaged, stop moving freely and become painful. The results appear today in the journal Nature Genetics (bioRxiv.org preprint). Phenotypes of osteoarthritis: evidence …