Keeping track of what we reveal about ourselves each day—through email and text messages, Amazon purchases and Facebook “likes”—is hard enough. Imagine a future when Big Data has access not only to your shopping habits, but also to your DNA and other deeply personal data collected about our bodies and behavior—and about the inner workings of our proteins and cells.…
A study to be published later this month in the journal Molecular Autism confirms previous research that people with Asperger Syndrome (AS) are more likely to carry specific variations in a particular gene. More strikingly, the study supports existing findings that the same gene is also linked to how much empathy typically shown by individuals in the general population. The research was…
Only a few genetic changes are needed to spur the evolution of new species — even if the original populations are still in contact and exchanging genes. Once started, however, evolutionary divergence evolves rapidly, ultimately leading to fully genetically isolated species, report scientists from the University of Chicago in the Oct. 31 Cell Reports. “Speciation is one of the most…