Genetics, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 29, 2016

Genetic Tests Results: Do They Change Your Behavior?

You can't change your genes, but you can change your behavior, right? Well, a new study finds that people who have a genetic test result that tells them they are at higher risk for lung cancer or heart disease aren't likely to change their health behaviors anyway. Researchers in England...

May 31, 2017

Rare Genetic Mutation Makes People Prone to Colds

The case of a young girl who frequently got sick from colds has helped scientists pinpoint a rare genetic mutation that makes people more susceptible to cold viruses. The 5-year-old girl has suffered numerous life-threatening infections from human rhinoviruses, which cause the common cold, according to a new report. When...

Oct 31, 2018

Who Were the 1st Americans? 11,000-Year-Old DNA Reveals Clues

People genetically linked to the Clovis culture, one of the earliest continentwide cultures in North America, made it down to South America as far back as 11,000 years ago. Then they mysteriously vanished around 9,000 years ago, new research reveals. Where did they go? It appears that another ancient group...

Sep 30, 2018

What Does Elizabeth Warren's 'Native' Ancestry Mean?

On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released results from DNA testing, suggesting she has Native American ancestry and thrusting the issue of genetic testing and Native American identity into the spotlight. The DNA report comes after years of political back-and-forth exchanges between Warren and Republican opponents, who accuse her of...

Mar 31, 2018

Game-Changing Study Finds Dozens of Genes Tied to Depression

Scientists have uncovered dozens of genes that increase the risk of depression — a major finding that underscores the complexity of the disease and reveals why antidepressant therapies work well for some people but are utterly ineffective for others. A global consortium of more than 200 scientists identified 44 gene...

Feb 28, 2018

Scott Kelly's Year in Space Changed His Gene Expression

(Editor's Note: This story was updated on March 15 at 1:15 pm E.T. Here is an updated article about Live Science's errors in reporting this study.) Scott and Mark Kelly are identical twin brothers — at least, they were until Scott spent a year living in space. When Scott Kelly...

Oct 31, 2019

DNA Just One of More Than 1 Million Possible 'Genetic Molecules,' Scientists Find

DNA and its cousin RNA store genetic information and enable life as we know it — but what if millions of lesser-known chemicals could do the exact same thing? A new study suggests that more than 1 million chemical look-alikes could encode biological information in the same way that DNA...

Aug 31, 2019

12 Children with Autism Were Conceived from One Donor's Sperm. Is There an 'Autism Gene'?

A single sperm donor is the biological father of at least 12 children who all developed autism — an extraordinary case that prompted one woman to sue her sperm bank, according to news reports. The case came to light when the woman, Danielle Rizzo of Illinois, was researching treatments for...

Aug 31, 2019

'Trippy' Bacteria Engineered to Brew 'Magic Mushroom' Hallucinogen

Scientists have transformed a common bacterial cell into a psychedelic drug factory capable of pumping out copious quantities of psilocybin, the chemical famously found in magic mushrooms, according to a new study. Psilocybin can be found in more than 100 'shroom species, most notably in one called Psilocybe cubensis, which...

Jul 31, 2019

John Dillinger's Corpse to Be Dug Up and DNA-Tested to Settle Conspiracy Theory

The body of infamous Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger — or, at least, the body of whoever is buried in Dillinger's Indianapolis cemetery plot — is going to be exhumed, DNA-tested and reinterred on Sept. 16, cbsnews.com reported. This grim reaping could finally smother the flames of a conspiracy theory that's...

Jan 31, 2019

A Rover That Will Look for Life on Mars Named for DNA Pioneer Rosalind Franklin

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today (Feb. 7) that its next Mars rover will be named for Rosalind Franklin, the late British scientist, who was behind the discovery of DNA's double-helix structure. ESA's ExoMars rover, Rosalind the rover, is scheduled to launch to the Red Planet in 2020 and...

Oct 31, 2020

Are you genetically more similar to your mom or your dad?

He's the spitting image of his dad! Or: She's her mom's clone — except for the nose. Clearly from her father's side of the family. As we watch kids grow up, we tend to look for likenesses between them and their parents. So which parent contributes more genetically? The answer...

Sep 30, 2020

What is RNA?

More than just DNA's lesser-known cousin, RNA plays a central role in turning genetic information into your body's proteins. This remarkable molecule also carries the genetic instructions for many viruses, and it may have helped life get its start. 'Central Dogma'Together, RNA, short for ribonucleic acid, and DNA, short for...

Jul 31, 2020

Is the Y chromosome dying out?

The sex we're assigned at birth depends largely on a genetic flip of the coin: X or Y? Two X chromosomes and you (almost always) develop ovaries. An X and a Y chromosome? Testes. These packages of genetic material don't just differ in terms of the body parts they give...

May 31, 2020

Ancient DNA could reveal full stories on the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls are made up of tens of thousands of manuscript fragments — mostly made of parchment, or animal skin. Now, scientists are analyzing tiny traces of ancient DNA in these fragments to piece together the story of the early text. In the 1940s, the first of the...