#genetics

#genetics

Half of laboratory mice are not what scientists think they are, a genetic analysis of hundreds of strains that are distributed globally for animal research has found. The study, published today in Science, uncovered widespread inconsistencies between the reported names of mouse strains and their actual genetic makeup. The mismatches have the potential to compromise the reproducibility of mouse studies and undermine research conclusions, scientists say.

Scientists from the Royal Kennel Club (RKC) assessed the respiratory health of over 4,000 dogs in their pedigree records. This revealed that two characteristics related to breathing difficulties are moderately heritable, meaning they can be passed on from parent to puppy. Scientists say that 21 to 49 per cent of the difference in a dog's respiratory health and 31 to 39 per cent of the variation in nostril size was down to genetics. This suggests that BOAS rates could be significantly reduced by preventing the worst-affected dogs from breeding.

The study focused on characteristics of West Eurasians over several thousand years, seeking to understand how Darwinian forces couple to allelic effects and shape the genetic architecture of complex traits.

"Genes don't change that fast and they don't vary that much across the world. So changes over time and variations across the world are largely environmental."

Harden's research outlines genetic patterns associated with a higher risk of substance abuse and risk-taking behaviors, framing her work as an exploration of the genetics of sin.

The first study analyzes canid remains from two sites: Pnarbas, on the Central Anatolian Plateau, and Gough's Cave, in Somerset, UK. The fragments from Pnarbas are extraordinarily small, but the team still managed to extract enough nuclear DNA to confirm that they were domestic dogs and not wolves.

Milton didn't enter the pantheon of supercentenarians because death surprised him in his sleep after a life that included coffee and a whiskey every morning.

Bunions can affect even the greatest athletes - with marathon star Paula Radcliffe forced to have one surgically removed - but is it all in the genes or can we avoid them?

Watson shared a 1962 Nobel prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering that deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a double helix, consisting of two strands that coil around each other to create what resembles a long, gently twisting ladder. That realization was a breakthrough. It instantly suggested how hereditary information is stored and how cells duplicate their DNA when they divide. The duplication begins with the two strands of DNA pulling apart like a zipper.

The study by researchers at Princeton University analyzed the genes of 400,000 people in the United Kingdom between the ages of 39 and 73 and 13,500 Australians, aged 18-89. They sifted through the data to find people who have never had any type of sexual experience with the same or opposite sex. This left them with a dataset of 2,068 sexless females and 1,861 sexless males. What they found is surprising.

Murray and Herrnstein argue that intelligence, as measured by an IQ score, is a crucial determinant of success in modern society. They also argue that a person's intelligence is substantially determined by genetics, leading to the establishment of "cognitive elites" as intelligent people select one another for reproduction. Most controversially, Herrnstein and Murray entertain the possibility that socioeconomic and educational differences among racial groups could be explained by differences in their IQ scores,

Each of our cells holds a set of biological instructions (our genes). The creation and growth of cells and the proteins inside of them are activated by our genetics. As we grow during pregnancy, our genetic blueprints tell our cells to separate into different types of cells that then grow into different organs, such as our brain. From the growth of our physical command centre (our brain) comes the scaffolding of how we are able to form thoughts and see the world.

During her final year she died on 19 August 2024 she was verified as the oldest living person, a feat that drew the attention of researchers who explore the biology of ageing. We wanted to learn from her particular case to benefit other people, says Manel Esteller, a physician specializing in genetics at the University of Barcelona in Spain. At the time, Branyas was living in the small town of Olot, in the Catalonia region of Spain, where she enjoyed reading books, playing with dogs

Is aggression part of our primate nature, wired into our systems because it helps us survive, or do we learn it from such seemingly innocent occupations as watching cartoons and wrestling matches on TV? Can the answer be both? There is evidence in support of both a genetic, evolutionary source for human aggression, and for the role of observational learning in its acquisition.