dna

Genome sequencing for newborns: What do new parents think?

A study published this week in Genetics in Medicine is the first to explore new parents’ attitudes toward newborn genomic testing. The findings suggest that if newborn genomic testing becomes available, there would be robust interest among new parents, regardless of their demographic background.  “Several other studies have measured parents’ interest in newborn genomic screening, but none focused on new…

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Why Humans Don't Suffer From Chimpanzee Malaria: DNA Region Controlling Red Blood Cell Invasion Holds Genetic Key to Infection

By comparing the genomes of malaria parasites that affect chimpanzees and those that affect humans, researchers discovered that it is the difference in the parasites’ surface proteins that determine which host it will infect. Out of a genome of approximately 5,500 genes, researchers found that most genes have directly equivalent counterparts between the human and primate parasites. However, portions of…

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Now Your Food Has Fake DNA In It

Like many novel technologies in this age of TED Talks and Silicon Valley triumphalism, synthetic biology—synbio for short—floats on a sea of hype. One of its founding scientists, Boston University biomedical engineer James Collins, has called it “genetic engineering on steroids.” Whereas garden-variety genetic engineers busy themselves moving genes from one organism into another—to create tomatoes that don’t bruise easily,…

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Strongest Evidence Yet That Pygmies' Short Stature Is Genetic

It’s not another tall tale: Evolutionary biologists have developed a new understanding of the genetic basis of short stature in humans. Also known as the pygmy phenotype, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that this trait has evolved several times over the course of human history. “We have found the strongest evidence…

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