La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – Scientists have long known that control mechanisms known collectively as "epigenetics" play a critical role in human development, but they did not know precisely how alterations in this extra layer of biochemical instructions in DNA contribute to development.
London, UK (Scicasts) – Scientists from King’s College London have identified patterns of epigenetic changes involved in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by studying genetically identical twins who differ in autism traits.
Washington, DC (Scicasts) – Pioneering studies by U. S. Department of Agriculture-funded research molecular geneticist Robert A. Waterland are helping explain how the foods that soon-to-be-moms eat in the days and weeks around the time of conception―or what's known as periconceptional nutrition–may affect the way genes function in her children, and her children's health.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified patterns of epigenomic diversity that not only allow plants to adapt to various environments, but could also benefit crop production and the study of human diseases.
Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) – Lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are on the rise, according to the American Lung Association and the National Institutes of Health.
Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) – The recently published genome sequences of seven well-studied ant species are opening up new vistas for biology and medicine.
Berlin, Germany (Scicasts) – Many different tissues and organs form from pluripotent stem cells during embryonic development. To date it had been known that these processes are controlled by transcription factors for specific tissues.
Cambridge, UK (Scicasts) – New research reveals a potential way for how parents' experiences could be passed to their offspring's genes.
Baltimore, MD (Scicasts) – In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an immune disorder that afflicts an estimated 1.5 million American adults.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – In a novel use of gene knockout technology, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine tested the same gene inserted into 90 different locations in a yeast chromosome – and discovered that while the inserted gene never altered its surrounding chromatin landscape, differences in that immediate landscape measurably affected gene activity.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – When it's dark, and we start to fall asleep, most of us think we're tired because our bodies need rest. Yet circadian rhythms affect our bodies not just on a global scale, but at the level of individual organs, and even genes.
Norwich, UK (Scicasts) – New research in human volunteers has shown that molecular changes to our genes, known as epigenetic marks, are driven mainly by ageing but are also affected by what we eat.
Seattle, WA (Scicasts) – A recent finding by medical geneticists sheds new light on how Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy develops and how it might be treated. More commonly known as FSHD, the devastating disease affects both men and women.
Berlin, Germany (Scicasts) – The patients have single short fingers (metacarpals) and toes (metatarsals) and can be restricted in growth due to a shortened skeleton. This hereditary disease is called brachydactyly type E (Greek for short fingers).
Vancouver, BC Canada (Scicasts) – A University of British Columbia and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) study has revealed that childhood poverty, stress as an adult, and demographics such as age, sex and ethnicity, all leave an imprint on a person’s genes. [video]
Barcelona, Spain (Scicasts) – Monozygotic twins have the same genome, that is, the same DNA molecule in both siblings. Despite being genetically identical, both twins may have different diseases at different times. This phenomenon is called "twin discordance".
Chapel Hill, NC (Scicasts) – Over the last two decades, scientists have come to understand that the genetic code held within DNA represents only part of the blueprint of life.