Is Love At First Sight Real? A Genetic Clue

Is Love At First Sight Real? A Genetic Clue

Geneticists have tackled a question that has perplexed humanity since the dawn of time: does love at first sight truly exist? Maybe, according to a study published in the April 2009 issue of the…
Making Biological Widgets

Making Biological Widgets

Today, if you like playing with electricity, you can hop over to Amazon and buy the Extreme Snap Circuits set and put together transistors, switches, lamps, motors, resistors, and capacitors to build…
Supermax Lockdown in the Genome

Supermax Lockdown in the Genome

Some regions of our genomes are under permanent lockdown because they are hazardous to our health - or at least the health of our future offspring. These secured regions include large swaths of…
Science Citation Classic: Beadle and Tatum

Science Citation Classic: Beadle and Tatum

Behind every major scientific effort is a story. Beadle and Tatum's story is one of persistence. They began with a hypothesis: each gene causes the production of a single enzyme, and that enzyme…
The Secret Life of Brewer's Yeast

The Secret Life of Brewer's Yeast

Some fun with microscopes and fluorescent proteins: in the image below, you can watch what brewer's yeast does with its DNA as it reproduces itself. This is the microbe that ferments your beer and…
Genetics for Dummies

Genetics for Dummies

"Are you confused by all the talk about DNA and genes? We can help," claims the University of Utah. There is now no excuse for not knowing what stem cells do, what messenger RNA is, why SNPs are…
Walk It Off, Motor Proteins!

Walk It Off, Motor Proteins!

Mechanically, walking is a complicated feat.  We take for granted that a carefree cascade of one-footed falls adds up to steady rapid locomotion. Replicating a dynamically stable foot-over-foot…
Can Prions Be Epigenetic Regulators In Humans?

Can Prions Be Epigenetic Regulators In Humans?

Prions first made their notorious media debut in the mid-1980’s when British cattle contracted Mad Cow disease. As a result, over 150 people in Europe were infected and died from the human form known…
What Honeybees Can Teach Us About Gene Flow

What Honeybees Can Teach Us About Gene Flow

Insects such as honeybees and bumble bees are predictable in the way they move among flowers, typically moving directly from one flower to an adjacent cluster of flowers in the same row of plants.…