Genetics & Molecular Biology

Scientists have been 'abuzz' with the results of a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience in which it was reported that differences in the behavior of honeybees correlated to variations in DNA methylation patterns. These changes, moreover, could be reversed, allowing bees to transition between two distinct roles and alter their behavior accordingly. Within most honeybee colonies there is typically a single queen bee whose sole responsibility is to propagate the colony. Out of the tens of thousands of bees within the colony the queen alone retains the ability to…

Variation in facial shape is an easy way to explain phenotypes in humans to people who don't understand biology all that well. Monozygotic twins have almost identical faces and siblings usually have more similar faces than unrelated people, implying our facial morphology is under genetic regulation - but still little has been known about the genetic basis of normal human facial morphology.  A new study was carried out on behalf of the International Visible Trait Genetics (VisiGen) Consortium with almost ten thousand individuals of European descent from several countries. Phenotyping of…

The publication of the complete human genome sequence in 2007 made the genetic code readily accessible to researchers and served as a platform for the countless advances in science,medicine, and sequencing technology which were to follow. Following the completion of the human genome project, researchers set out to develop a comprehensive ‘map’ of which genes coded for which gene products, or proteins.This allowed researchers to track how a protein was affected when a gene sequence was altered and the resulting changes within the cell. Subsequently, a number of diseases and disorders were…

Fifty years ago, marine biologist Rachel Carson ignited the modern environmental movement with the publication of Silent Spring. It was an ecological alarm call – an attack on what she believed was the overuse of pesticides and the potential harm they might cause to humans and wildlife – and a call for a progressive, science-focused view of modern agriculture and food. Her deeper, ecological message is often overlooked by her most ardent supporters. It should be front and center as Californians prepare to go the polls in November to decide the fate of Proposition 37 – which could introduce…

      Genome: A genome is all the DNA in anorganism, including its genes. •       Comparative Sequence Sizes (Bases) •       Escherichia coli(bacterium) genome 4.6 Million •       Entire yeast genome 15 Million •        Entire human genome 3 Billion Genes  are the basic physical and functional units of heredity.  “A gene is a specific sequence of nucleotide bases, whose sequences carry the information required for…

New research on Pelargoniums ('Geraniums' and 'Storkbills'), which have been cultivated in Europe since the 17th century and are now one of the most popular garden and house plants around the world, shows targeting two bacterial genes can produce long-lived and pollen-free plants.Pelargoniums have been selectively bred to produce a wide range of leaf shapes, flowers and scents, and have commercial traits such as early and continuous flowering, pest and disease resistance and consistent quality and now they are getting some modern science engineering to allow people to enjoy them with…

Instead of unwinding into a flat ribbon when stretched, like an untwisted coil normally would, a cucumber’s tendrils actually coil further - which has led to discovery of a biological mechanism for coiling and an unusual type of spring that is soft when pulled gently and stiff when pulled strongly. Understanding this counterintuitive behavior required a combination of head scratching, physical modeling, mathematical modeling, and cell biology—not to mention a large quantity of silicone. A new study describes the mechanism by which coiling occurs in the cucumber plant and suggests a new type…

Humans inherit more than three times as many mutations from their fathers as from their mothers, and mutation rates increase with the father's age but not the mother's, researchers have found in the largest study of human genetic mutations to date. A study based on the DNA of around 85,000 Icelanders, the largest study of human genetic mutations to date, has found that humans inherit more than three times as many mutations from their fathers as from their mothers and mutation rates increase with the father's age but not the mother's. In addition to finding 3.3 paternal germline…

DNA sequencing is getting faster and cheaper, but it's still pretty scary to patients who don't understand the difference between a risk factor and 'I have a gene for this disease' - doctors are also still unclear how they will be able to use this information. When genomic data needs is a contest. Boston Children's Hospital is challening 30 teams from around the world to interpret the DNA sequences of three children with rare conditions whose cause remains a mystery -  the goal is to help establish "best practices" for interpreting genomic data, by addressing technical and…

Led by 100-meter world record holder Usain Bolt, Jamaican men swept the sprinting events at the London Olympics. It was a stunning feat for the small Caribbean nation. But as part of a broader trend, it’s hardly surprising. Runners of West African descent are the fastest humans on earth. For decades, a bushel of developing countries—Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts, Barbados, Grenada, Netherlands Antilles and the Bahamas in the Caribbean and Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Namibia in western Africa, as single countries, have each produced more elite male sprinters…