Genetics is the branch of biological sciences that investigates the organization, transmission, variation, and functional consequences of hereditary information in organisms. It focuses on the structure and function of genes and genomes, the molecular mechanisms of DNA replication, transcription, and translation, and the regulation of gene expression across developmental and environmental contexts. Genetics encompasses classical (Mendelian) inheritance, molecular genetics, population and quantitative genetics, and genomics, providing the framework for understanding mutation, recombination, genetic linkage, and evolutionary change, as well as informing experimental design and interpretation in biomedical, agricultural, and model-organism research.
Transposons, DNA sequences that can self-replicate and move (jump) throughout the genome, are widespread and can affect cell survival if left unchecked. Cells control these "jumping genes" by silencing them, but little was ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 25, 2026
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40
Scientists have long known that the DNA code in genes is not the only way to pass genetic traits from parents to offspring. "Epigenetic" marks—chemical modifications to DNA that don't change the DNA code itself—can also be ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 20, 2026
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22
Scientists at Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have discovered that large pieces of DNA can transfer directly between human cells, and the DNA can persist and change how the recipient ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 19, 2026
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49
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen have shown that giant viruses long thought to exist only as fleeting, free-living particles that can embed themselves permanently in the genome of a multicellular ...
Evolution
May 18, 2026
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12
Researchers at the Technion have discovered how changes in genetic regulatory sequences can lead to alterations in the form and structure of animals—even when genetic regulatory systems are stable and resistant to change. ...
Evolution
May 13, 2026
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26
Throughout history, most of the world's genomic research has relied on DNA data from people of European ancestry.
Molecular & Computational biology
May 12, 2026
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12
An international research team led by the IPK Leibniz Institute has succeeded in generating haploids in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana very efficiently. This process involves degrading a specific protein in the centromere. ...
Plants & Animals
May 7, 2026
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11
Watermelon is a quintessential summertime fruit, evoking images of warm, sunny afternoons and cookouts with friends and family. You can easily picture its striped, green rind and pink flesh, imagine the delicate crunch as ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 5, 2026
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11
Researchers at University College Dublin have identified a genetic "switch" that determines the sex of cannabis plants, and found the same system may exist in hops. The study, published in New Phytologist, pinpoints a specific ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 27, 2026
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183
In a first-of-its-kind finding, researchers at University of Iowa Health Care discovered that specific genetic sequences have an outsized impact on humans' language abilities and that these sequences evolved before humans ...
Evolution
Apr 23, 2026
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229
