A biological clock capable of determining how old different human tissues and cells are has been discovered by a team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles. The findings, published in Genome Biology, show how the UCLA team created the internal clock using a naturally occurring process that alters DNA. The preliminary results may shed light on cancer…
In June 2007, James Watson, a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, went to Houston to pick up his genome. At a ceremonial press conference at Baylor College of Medicine, scientists handed the 79-year-old Nobel Prize-winner a DVD on which they had recorded a highly accurate reading of all the DNA nestled in the nucleus of each of his cells.…
Human fingertips have several types of sensory neurons that are responsible for relaying touch signals to the central nervous system. Scientists have long believed these neurons followed a linear path to the brain with a “labeled-lines” structure. But new research on mouse whiskers from Duke University reveals a surprise — at the fine scale, the sensory system’s wiring diagram doesn’t…
In a breakthrough for understanding brain evolution, neuroscientists have shown that differences between primate brains – from the tiny marmoset to human – can be largely explained as consequences of the same genetic program. In research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Professor Marcello Rosa and his team at Monash University’s School of Biomedical Sciences and colleagues at Universidade Federal…
In studying spotted hyenas, lions and, most recently, the raccoon family, Sharleen Sakai has found a correlation between the size of the animals’ frontal cortex and their social nature. In her latest study, Sakai examined the digitally recreated brains of three species in the Procyonid family — the raccoon, the coatimundi and the kinkajou — and found the coatimundi had…
Every year, the MacArthur Foundation bestows large financial grants on a group of people who are doing exceptionally creative or important work. MacArthur fellowships are often called “genius grants,” and grant-winners tend to be unusually motivated, passionate and forward thinking. But are they geniuses? The annual conversation that ensues raises questions about what it means to be intelligent and whether…