Grandparents favor genetically close grandchildren

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research suggests that grandparents naturally and subconsciously favor the grandchildren who are most closely related to them genetically. The phenomenon is called "sexually antagonistic grandparental ...

In praise of the Y chromosome

(PhysOrg.com) -- David Page, director of the Whitehead Institute and professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says research indicates the much-maligned Y chromosome plays a more critical role in genetics ...

Unusual sex chromosome creates third sex in Hessian flies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Expectant human parents might wish for a boy or girl, but Hessian flies actually have a third option, and, no matter what, the flies are never surprised by the sex of their offspring.

Genetic conflict in fish led to evolution of new sex chromosomes

University of Maryland biologists have genetically mapped the sex chromosomes of several species of cichlid (pronounced "sick-lid") fish from Lake Malawi, East Africa, and identified a mechanism by which new sex chromosomes ...

Zoo volunteers help explain mysteries of the genome

As we approache the 25th anniversary of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting (September 10), University of Leicester geneticists interested in a particular type of DNA are receiving some help from an unusual band of assistants.

Aurora B answers an XIST-ential question

Early in development, mammalian female cells counteract their double dose of X chromosomes by coating one of them with a large RNA named XIST. The RNA binds to the same X chromosome from which it is transcribed and initiates ...

Boy or girl? In lizards, egg size matters

Whether baby lizards will turn out to be male or female is a more complicated question than scientists would have ever guessed, according to a new report published online on June 4th in Current Biology. The study shows that ...

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