A study of the health effects of alcohol separates the population by a genetic difference: the ability to metabolize alcohol. Researchers found no benefit to drinking, moderate or not. Is it true? Maybe if you're Chinese.
genetics
A new study reveals that reduced telomere length is associated with childhood trauma in those with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Does this new research make a compelling case for its use in the real, not theoretical, world?
Sen. Warren, who has taken flak for claiming Native American ancestry, just released the results of a genetic test that definitively proves ... well, nothing. The U.S. Senator from Massachusetts might be 1/32nd Native American. Or 1/1024th. Nobody really knows.
Data mining genomic data is a growing trend. This study seeks to determine whether nature or nurture control who gets ill. Turns out, it's complicated, and genes may not hold all – or any – of the answers.
Researchers found that students who exhibited signs of paranoid thinking – specifically, the tendency to interpret random coincidences as highly meaningful, or to believe others are plotting against them – had a particular genetic profile.
In a nod to science, Newsweek reported that there might be genetic underpinnings to obesity. So kudos, for at least that. But why not share the actual science instead of dumbing it down to, “Regardless of how much you eat, your weight may be out of your hands?” For the scientifically-literate explanation, here it is.
Genes in three different pathways were differentially expressed between veterans who attempted suicide and those who had not. One of the genetic pathways that showed substantial disruption is known as mTOR, the dysregulation of which has been previously linked to major depressive disorder.
A new review published in Trends in Cancer strongly suggests that African-Americans have a unique genetic susceptibility to cancer, both in terms of acquiring the disease and dying from it.
The Dutch are famous for windmills, impressive feats of geo-engineering and for being tall and blonde. And at just over 6-feet, Dutch men are widely hailed as the world's tallest. But new data suggests that men from regions within the Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina stand even a cut above.
The key to preventing Alzheimer's Disease may lie in the North Atlantic island of Iceland. Its relatively homogeneous population has been a treasure trove for genetic researchers looking for mutated genes that either increase or decrease the disease's risk.
Necrotizing fasciitis, which literally translated means "inflammation of the fascia (connective tissue) causing cell death," is the medical term for what's known as "flesh-eating" disease. A recent case that made national headlines involved a man who died four days after becoming infected with the ocean-dwelling microbe Vibrio vulnificus.
We humans like to think of ourselves as on the top of the heap as compared to all the other living things. About 50 years ago, a person's estimated number of human genes was in the millions. Today we’re down to about 20,000 (while bananas have 30,000). It’s time to rethink the question of how the complexity of an organism is reflected in its genome.