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In a way, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not really news anymore, since farmers have had access to that technology for a couple of decades already. So what is the new frontier in food production? The latest step in genetic engineering — at least as it pertains to our food system — is called synthetic biology, which applies the principles of engineering to the fundamental components of biology. Instead of mixing one engineered gene into an existing organism (which is what happens with most of today’s GMOs), these scientists are creating large clusters of genes synthetically. They can essentially design...

Genetics will determine whether a person infected with Ebola dies, scientists claimed today. A new study has found DNA could be the key to tracking the deadly effects of the virus which has ravaged West Africa. The World Health Organisation revealed nearly 5,000 people have died from the disease, which has devastated Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. A team of scientists at Washington University believe their study has identified genetic factors behind the mild-to-deadly range of reactions to the virus.

In the genetic history of our species, the mamas outnumber the papas. A new study in Investigative Genetics reports that females have made a bigger contribution than men. By studying the DNA of 623 males from 51 populations, the researchers found more genetic diversity in the DNA inherited from mothers than they did in the DNA inherited from fathers. At first glance, these results could be taken to mean that there used to be more women than men. But if you know anything about history, it makes more sense to blame reproductive habits: In many cultures, more women reproduced than...

Europe's family tree has a THIRD branch: Link found in genetic connection between Modern Europeans and Native Americans Europeans share DNA with ancient hunters and Middle Eastern farmers Study claims Europeans also share their genes with North Eurasians This group gave their DNA to the people who traveled the Bering Strait Ancient Middle Eastern farmers and their European descendants can trace ancestry to a previously unknown lineage called the Basal Eurasians It has long been believed that modern Europeans descended from indigenous hunters and Middle Eastern farmers. But a new study suggests all Europeans today have DNA from a third...

Scientists believe the gene that causes red hair could die out if temperatures continue to rise Polar bears and Emperor penguins aren't the only species under threat due to climate change. Gingers could become extinct as a result of increasingly sunny skies, experts have warned. Scientists believe the gene that causes red hair is an evolutionary response to cloudy skies and allows inhabitants to get as much Vitamin D as possible. But if predictions of rising temperatures and blazing sunshine across the British Isles turn out to be correct, flaming red heads could cease to exist within centuries. While only...

Researchers for the first time created microbes containing artificial DNA, expanding the universal genetic code that guides life. The advance one day could lead to new antibiotics, vaccines and other medical products not possible with today's bioscience. In a report published Wednesday in Nature, the scientists said they created two additions to the normal genetic code, and then prompted bacteria to incorporate these pieces of man-made DNA with few ill effects. "The cells recognized it as natural," said chemical biologist Floyd Romesberg at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., who led the research group.

Full headline: From Mongol warriors to Silk Road traders: Interactive map reveals how fallen European empires have left their lasting stamp on the world's gene-pools Map shows the mixing of genes of 95 different populations across Europe, Africa, Asia and South America It reveals colonialism, the Arab slave trade and European traders on the Silk Road mixing with people in China Scientists pinpointed time when mixing took place by looking areas of DNA that exchanged genetic information To use the map, double click on the location you want to view. You can then use the scroll bar to zoom in...

Paris — Scientists on Wednesday said they had found a variant of a gene to explain why Latin Americans are at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, and pointed to a possible DNA legacy from the Neanderthals. The variant lies on a gene called SLC16A11, which plays a part in breaking down fatty molecules called lipids, they said in the journal Nature. A research consortium called SIGMA -- for the Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americans -- sought to understand why Type 2 diabetes in Mexicans and other Latin American populations is roughly twice as great as among...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Humans lived for thousands of years in small, isolated populations and resulting inbreeding shaped the course of human evolution, a U.S. researcher says. Research suggests the severe inbreeding may have created many health problems and the small populations were likely a barrier to the development of complex culture and technologies, NewScientist.com reported Thursday. David Reich of Harvard Medical School in Boston -- who has sequenced the genome of Neanderthals and that of another extinct human, the Denisovans -- said both species were severely inbred due to small populations. "Archaic populations had low genetic diversity,...

An analysis of ancient DNA from a 24,000-year-old Siberian skeleton generates a new model for the original peopling of the Western Hemisphere. Native Americans may not have descended from East Asians who crossed the Bering Land Bridge more than 15,000 years ago, according to a new genomic analysis of a millennia-old Siberian skeleton. A portion of the nuclear DNA recovered from the upper arm bone of a 4-year-old boy that was buried near the Siberian village of Mal’ta about 24,000 years ago is shared by modern Native Americans and no other group. But the boy appears to have been descended...

An international team of researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology has found evidence that ageing works through a special set of genes that everyone has – the rDNA genes.Studies in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shown here, over the past two decades have found a connection between rDNA genes and lifespan. “This work is exciting because it shows that rDNA instability is a new factor in ageing,” said study co-author Dr Austen Ganley from Massey University, New Zealand. Dr Ganley and his colleagues from Japan found that by improving the stability of the rDNA genes they could extend the lifespan...

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that human genes isolated from the body can’t be patented, a victory for doctors and patients who argued that such patents interfere with scientific research and the practice of medicine. The court was handing down one of its most significant rulings in the age of molecular medicine, deciding who may own the fundamental building blocks of life. The case involved Myriad Genetics Inc., which holds patents related to two genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, that can indicate whether a woman has a heightened risk of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer. Justice Clarence...

The trumpets were left at home and the parades were canceled. The press releases and campaign signs were quietly forgotten. The news was big, but it did not contain what some had hoped for. On April 14, 2003, the International Human Genome Consortium announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project—two years ahead of schedule. The press report read: “The human genome is complete and the Human Genome Project is over” (see “Human Genome Report...,” 2003, emp. added). Most of the major science journals reported on the progress in the field of genetics, but also speculated on how the...

Eight major studies of identical twins in Australia, the U.S., and Scandinavia during the last two decades all arrive at the same conclusion: gays were not born that way. “At best genetics is a minor factor,” says Dr. Neil Whitehead, PhD. Whitehead worked for the New Zealand government as a scientific researcher for 24 years, then spent four years working for the United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency. Most recently, he serves as a consultant to Japanese universities about the effects of radiation exposure. His PhD is in biochemistry and statistics. Identical twins have the same genes or DNA....

Long Complex Gene Tails Defy Evolution by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D. * If the picture of complexity regarding how genes are controlled and regulated in the genome was not complicated enough, a new study has increased this paradigm to an unprecedented level.1 Recently reported research describes massively long gene tails that do not code for proteins, but instead contain hundreds to thousands of built in regulatory switches per gene RNA copy. When a protein-coding gene is turned on in the genome, copies of it are made called mRNAs. These mRNAs are then processed to remove non-protein coding intervening regions called "introns"...

How Similar Are Human and Ape Genes? by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D. * In the past, evolutionists have tried to prove human evolution by comparing only similar DNA segments between humans and apes—disregarding the non-similar DNA regions.1 Many evolutionary studies have involved the selective use of protein-coding segments in the genome called genes. But comparing just the genes of humans and apes produces much higher DNA similarities than many other regions of the genome would yield. Surprisingly, a recent study compared chimpanzee chromosomes to their similar human-counterpart chromosomes using highly optimized DNA matching conditions and found that the chimpanzee genome was...

Why are some people gay? Most researchers who study sexual orientation think that both genetic and environmental factors play a role, but the relative contributions of each remain unclear. A new study of Swedish twins reinforces earlier findings that environmental influences--including the environment in the womb--may play a greater role than genes. Scientists studying complex human behaviors often turn to twin studies. Researchers look at both identical and fraternal twins to see how often they share a trait--a parameter called concordance. The greater the concordance among genetically identical twins compared with fraternal twins--who share only half of their genes--the more...

Gaining a deep insight into human evolution, researchers have identified a mutation in a critical human gene as the source of several distinctive traits that make East Asians different from other races. Researchers have identified a mutation in a gene that confers several distinct traits to East Asians, including thicker hair. The traits — thicker hair shafts, more sweat glands, characteristically identified teeth and smaller breasts — are the result of a gene mutation that occurred about 35,000 years ago, the researchers have concluded. snip The first of those sites to be studied contains the gene known as EDAR. Africans...

Epigenetics: How Our Experiences Affect Our Offspring New research suggests that people's experiences, not just their genes, can affect the biological legacy of their offspring By The Week Staff January 20, 2013 Isn't our genetic legacy hardwired? From Mendel and Darwin in the 19th century to Watson and Crick in the 20th, scientists have shown that chromosomes passed from parent to child form a genetic blueprint for development. But in a quiet scientific revolution, researchers have in recent years come to realize that genes aren't a fixed, predetermined program simply passed from one generation to the next. Instead, genes can...

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner Action Points Certain variations in the vitamin D receptor gene may influence the clinical effects of low vitamin D levels in some chronic diseases.Note that patients in the cohort without the genetic polymorphism showed no association between low 25(OH)D levels and outcomes such as hip fracture, myocardial infarction, cancer, and death. Variations in the vitamin D receptor gene may influence the clinical effects of low vitamin D levels in some chronic diseases, researchers found.Among patients with low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin...