Genetics, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2004

Roots of Graying Hair Discovered

Gray hair is all a big mistake. Some stem cells that generate the cells which make pigment -- producing blondes, brunettes and redheads -- die off with age, according to a new study that finally gets at the root of this problem. If that were it, that distinguished look might...

Oct 31, 2004

Huge New Virus Defies Classification

French biologists have just mapped out the genetic sequence of the largest known virus, and the complexity of the thing has them questioning what it is. The genetic code of the mimivirus, as it is called, is three times longer than that of other viruses and contains elements that blur...

Sep 30, 2004

Gene Maps Could Save Trees

A team of scientists has mapped the key genes in a group of trees that includes poplars and aspens, a result that could enable scientific rescues of all kinds of trees from drought and pests. The group, called Populus, includes about 35 tree species worldwide and ten in North America....

Jul 31, 2005

Surprise! 1-in-25 Dads Not the Real Father

About 4 percent of men may unknowingly be raising a child that really belongs to the mailman or some other guy, researchers speculate in a new study. Here's the real news: With modern methods, the truth will become known more frequently. Researchers pawed through a host of scientific articles published...

May 31, 2006

Genetic Mutations Help Date Old Books

The fundamentals of genetic science may help date centuries-old works by Shakespeare and Rembrandt. It could be a new benchmark for the science world's oddest crossover research. The newly-announced technique, which proposes to assign years to a slew of previously undated books and art, applies the same thinking behind genetic...

Feb 28, 2006

Genetic Basis for Increased Risk of Impulsive Violence

Scientists have identified a gene that may increase the risk for impulsivity and violence, particularly in men. The new study adds fuel to the debate over whether nature or nurture is to blame for criminal and disagreeable behavior. Researchers tested 142 healthy volunteers, free from psychiatric or neurological illnesses as...

Oct 31, 2007

What's in Your Genes? Ancient Parasites

You may not know it, but you're part virus. At least, some of your genes come from viruses that slipped their DNA into the genes of our primate ancestors millions of years ago. The DNA remnants of these ancient retroviruses, distant relatives of today's HIV, account for an estimated 8...

Sep 30, 2007

Incan Kids Fattened Before Sacrifice

Incan children as young as 6 were “fattened up” prior to their sacrificial deaths, a new study shows. Researchers made the startling discovery by sampling the hair of frozen child mummies found high in the Andes mountains, near the summit of Mount Llullaillaco—a 22,100-foot (6,739-meter) active volcano on the border...

Aug 31, 2007

Men's Scent Depends on Women's Perceptions

If the sweaty guy standing in line next to you smells like vanilla—or urine—you may have whiffed a steroid in his body odor called androstenone. The chemical can take on either a vanilla or woodsy urine scent, depending on which version of a mutated odor gene carried by you, the...

Jul 31, 2007

Parasites Sneak Entire Genome into Flies

Spineless creatures of the world, watch out: Bacteria can slip their entire genetic codes into yours. Scientists have discovered the parasitic microbe Wolbachia's entire genome—the software of life—inside that of its fruit fly host. The breakthrough suggests that movement of genes between two different species, called lateral gene transfer, happens...

Jun 30, 2007

Scientists Create 12-Headed Jellyfish

Jellyfish with up to a dozen heads have been created in the laboratory by carefully monkeying with a few genes. The genetic experiments could shed light on how natural colonies of other multi-headed organisms first originated, including some that build coral reefs. Researchers targeted so-called Cnox genes, which help control...

Feb 28, 2007

Study: Genes Make Women Cranky

Thanks for the lousy temper, Mom and Dad. Genetics could explain why some women are more ill-tempered than others. A new University of Pittsburgh study finds genetic variations that deal with the body's mood management chemistry are linked with anger, aggression and hostility in women. Top 10 Other Lousy Things...

Feb 28, 2007

New Technique Stores Data in Bacteria

Artificial DNA with encoded information can be added to the genome of common bacteria, thus preserving the data. The technique was developed at Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences and Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. If you think those USB flash memory thumbdrives are small, check this data storage out....

Jan 31, 2007

'Kinship Detectors' Prevent Incest ... In Some Cases

People are born with kinship detectors that help us stay away from romantic entanglements with our siblings that could lead to evolutionary disaster, a new study suggests. But the system is far from fail-safe, the scientists found. The research suggest humans automatically and unconsciously gauge the relatedness of people they...

Nov 30, 2008

Fear: Hobbyists Will Create New Life Forms

Amateur biologists are goofing around with genetics in garage-based labs that some fear could unleash new and dangerous life forms. The new effort, dubbed biohacking, harkens to revolutions in infotech hatched by individuals that founded Apple, Hewlett Packard and Google. While, individual kitchen-counter chemists may become biohackers, the field has...