Genetics

An international team of scientists from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Sweden has used a genetic scoring technique to predict reading performance throughout school years from DNA alone. Calculating an individual’s GPS requires information from a genome-wide association study that finds specific genetic variants linked to particular traits. …

A duo of researchers at Columbia University has identified two genes (TMEM106B and GRN) that greatly impact normal brain aging, starting at around age 65. This drawing shows several of the most important brain structures. Image credit: National Institute for Aging. “If you look at a group of seniors, some …

A new bill introduced by Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and approved by the House Ways and Means Committee would allow corporations to force employees to undergo genetic testing — and then share those results with third parties. In theory, this is already illegal, thanks to a 2008 law known as GINA. …

An analysis of ancient DNA entrapped in Neanderthal dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) has revealed the complexity of Neanderthal behavior, including dietary differences between Neanderthal groups and knowledge of medication. El Sidron Neanderthals taste wild mushrooms, pine nuts and forest moss. Image credit: Abel Grau, CSIC Communication. “Dental plaque traps …

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, dwindling populations created a ‘mutational meltdown’ in the genomes of the last wooly mammoths, which had survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until about 3,700 years ago. This is an artist’s rendition of a woolly mammoth. Image …

According to an international team of researchers led by University College London and King’s College London, the discovery of a ‘molecular switch’ that causes the mucosal inflammatory diseases ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and celiac disease, could lead to effective new treatments for these autoimmune conditions. The discovery is reported in …

Eighty-three height-associated genetic variants have been discovered in a large-scale study led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London, Montreal Heart Institute, the Broad Institute and the University of Exeter. The research appears today in the journal Nature. Eirini Marouli et al report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower …

An international team of researchers led by University of California, Davis, geneticists has publicly released the first public genome sequence of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). Roasted beans of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). Image credit: University of California, Davis. In 2014, researchers led by Dr Philippe Lashermes of the French Institute …

DOIs, or Direct Object Identifiers, are fantastically useful little strings of text that serve to uniquely identify research papers, so that no matter what database you’re querying and no matter what paper you’re linking to, you’ll get the right thing back. Unlike books in a library, which can have later …

The ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) is one of Europe’s largest native deciduous trees. Image credit: Matthieu Sontag / CC-BY-SA. Ash trees (genus Fraxinus) are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but are being devastated in Europe by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, causing ash dieback. The disease is aggressive, spreads quickly through …