Tag: genetics
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Genetic screening will empower families
If you could know, from the day you were born, your risk of developing certain diseases, would you want to?
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Issue 29 Online: EuScireka!
Welcome to the new edition of EuSci Magazine! We will be posting and promoting each article from the magazine individually on our website over the next few weeks. If you want to read the magazine in its full and original form you can either pick one up from many different locations on campus or read…
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The Climate Crisis: Which animals will survive?
Alexandra Lesayova writes about the threespine stickleback fish; a promising model organism with respect to gaining a better understanding of the effects of climate change on living organisms, and how understanding the basis of natural selection in response to environmental stresses could be the key to accurate predictions of the effects of climate change. Climate…
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HLA Genotype and its effect on the severity of COVID-19 Infections
Isabelle Ferenczi introduces the importance of Human Leukocyte Antigens and their potential role in determining a given patient’s response to COVID-19 infection. A brief introduction to HLA Human Leukocyte (white blood cell) Antigens (HLA), are proteins that have a vital role in presenting foreign peptide (short amino acid chain) antigens in the bloodstream. Antigens are…
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How does space affect the body?
From microgravity to radiation, space is an extreme environment. Kate Summerson examines the impact this can have on the human body. As we know, NASA plans to increase the length of space travel, making deep space more accessible than ever before. To achieve this, NASA has been increasing its efforts to understand how longer term…
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Secrets of the water bear
Tardigrades (also known as water bears or moss piglets) are among the most resilient animals on the planet. They are termed “extremotolerant”, as while they are not true extremophiles – organisms, usually unicellular, which are adapted to thrive in extreme conditions – these incredible micro-animals are found in the most intense conditions our planet has…
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Coronagenes: A study of the genes behind severe COVID-19
COVID-19 affects individuals in different ways. Some people are asymptomatic whereas others require intensive care; most cases are short lived, but others experience more long term symptoms. The body’s reaction to COVID-19, like most illnesses, is dictated by both environmental and genetic factors. As COVID-19 emerged, environmental risk factors for severe symptoms, such as old…
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Turning invisible: lessons from cephalopod cells
Ellie Bennett looks at the way in which cephalopod cells might hold the key to turning our dreams of invisibility into a reality, albeit at the cellular level. There are few other classes of animal that conjure up such feverish images of deep-sea monsters or otherworldly aliens than that of the cephalopods. Translating from Greek…
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Blood iron emerges as a potential key to anti-ageing
Growing old may be an inevitable part of our lives, but can we overcome the wrinkles and debilitating age-related diseases? What is the secret behind why some people spring into old age with energy and good health? According to science, some key answers could lie in your DNA. New research published in Nature Communications has…