Tag: genetics
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The ABCs of Life on Earth
Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and the Polish Academy of Science, have challenged the popular RNA World hypothesis regarding the origin of life on Earth. The work, published in Nature, supports a mixed RNA/DNA model which could…
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Once Upon a DNA
Omar Shabana explores the ins and outs of the information in our DNA, and how we use it. 26 Million. That’s the number of alleged DNA testing kits to be sold by the 4 biggest genetic-testing companies by the end of 2018. These companies have had a very successful marketing strategy: a promise to show…
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Biobanks in the ranks
The virus which causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has been particularly cryptic in its strike pattern. There is a wide variation in expression and severity of symptoms from person to person; with some people experiencing nothing more than a dry cough, and others bedbound in intensive care. In working out why this is the case, researchers are…
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The Perils and Possibilities of CRISPR Whispering
In November 2018 a controversial public announcement was published on YouTube by He Jiankui, a biophysics researcher at the Shenzhen University of Technology, China. He and his team had carried out a gene editing experiment on selected human embryos, and subsequently delivered them through IVF (in vitro fertilisation). They had produced the first human genetically…
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Dog DNA could aid quest to help breeds breathe more easily
If you have ever taken a stroll through a popular dog park, you will have seen this classic sight. A dog owner strides purposefully ahead while their pug or french bulldog struggles to keep up, a cacophony of snorts, grunts and wheezes. These noises are part of the awkward, bumbling nature of pugs and bulldogs…
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No pain, sane brain: Clues to pain and anxiety treatment
Jo Cameron, 71, recently discovered that her pain insensitivity was unlike her peers. This is despite the former teacher from Inverness experiencing a sensation as small as a ‘tickle’ during childbirth 40 years ago, believing her peers to have exaggerated the pain. In daily life, she had broken limbs, cuts and burns, and underwent many…
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A genetic link between inflammation and depression?
Whilst there are many different cell types in our body, each contains the same DNA. In order to perform their particular roles, the cell types react differently to the DNA’s instructions by controlling when and how much each gene is expressed. There are entire subsets of genes whose only function is to regulate the expression…
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The clock is tic-ing for Tourette’s syndrome
Tourette Syndrome, or simply Tourette’s, has historically captured the public eye, and ear, by being simply too bizarre to ignore. It causes sufferers to perform ‘tics’ – brief involuntary actions such as arm movements and fragments of speech. Notoriously, the vocal tics can sometimes be socially inappropriate, e.g. swear words, horrific obscenities or comments on…