from Jenny Graves /Conversation Neanderthals, the closest cousins of modern humans, lived in parts of Europe and Asia until their extinction about 30,000 years ago. Genetic studies are increasingly revealing links between modern humans and these long-extinct relatives – most recently that a rush of interbreeding between our species occurred in a relatively short burst […]
Category: Genetics
The seed industry in the land of the free world – Seed World
Happy 4th of July, America! This Independence Day, I’ll be spending time with my family having fun (hopefully in the sun), eating American produce, and capping it off with an awesome fireworks display. I am also calling on myself and you to take a moment to reflect on the spirit of independence that defines this […]
The laboratory confirmed a strain of bird flu in the Mexico case
Claim: Bird flu diagnosis ‘made up’ for patient who died in Mexico A June 25 Instagram post ( direct link , archive link ) claims that a dead man who health officials said was infected with a certain type of bird flu did not have the virus. “The boy who allegedly died of bird flu […]
Rice research aims to reprogram the genetic code
Rice University chemist Han Xiao has been awarded nearly $2 million from the National Institute for Health Maximization Investigator Award (MIRA) program for established investigators. Han Xiao has been awarded nearly $2 million by MIRA. Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University. All organisms with a few exceptions use 20 standard amino acids to build proteins. Xiao’s […]
Children with Angelman have reduced bone health, study finds
Children with Angelman syndrome have weakened bone health – which continues to decline with age – compared to their peers in the general population, according to a study by researchers in the Netherlands. Deletions in UBE3A the disease-causing gene, as well as immobility, late onset of puberty, and a history of bone fractures were all […]
Do cleaved genes code for cleaved proteins?
image: Frustration changes when the protein is split into exons. view more Credit: Image by Carlos Bueno/Rice University. A new study led by Peter Wolynes of Rice University provides new insights into the evolution of folding proteins. The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers at Rice and the University […]
Don Wyse is remembered as an early champion of sustainable agriculture research in Minnesota
University of Minnesota professor Don Wyse is remembered for his passionate advocacy of sustainable crops and building networks to grow them. Wyse died Tuesday from injuries sustained in a fall. He was 77. Wyse co-founded the Forever Green Initiative more than a decade ago as a way to combat monoculture. The project researches and promotes […]
Characterizing the phenotypic and genetic structure of psychopathology in UK Biobank – Nature Mental Health
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O. & Walters, E. E. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 62, 617–627 (2005). Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Klein Hofmeijer-Sevink, M. et al. Clinical relevance of comorbidity in anxiety disorders: a report from the Netherlands […]