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.
What can the world's longest living individual teach us about longevity? A team of scientists coordinated by the University of California, Davis, sequenced the Great Basin bristlecone pine genome, which could help unlock ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
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Human genes are written in long strings of three-letter units composed of four different nucleotides. These units—or codons—specify one of many amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Multiple codons can encode the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 19, 2026
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Dr. Amy Baird, Professor of Biology at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), and her colleagues are seeking to change the attitude of biologists toward the meaning of taxonomic categories above the species level with ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2026
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Wildlife populations that become small and isolated, often due to habitat loss, inevitably experience inbreeding which can lead to the loss of fitness and eventual extinction. One solution is to perform a genetic rescue: ...
Ecology
Mar 13, 2026
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32
One of the most widely accepted models for how cells remember their identity may be incorrect. This is shown in a new study by two research groups at Umeå University. In Science Advances, they present results that overturn ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 13, 2026
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19
A research team led by scientists at the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, has completed the most extensive genetic sequencing of a jararaca viper to date. The focus of the study was the genome of the golden lancehead ...
Evolution
Mar 11, 2026
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39
A University of Queensland analysis of genetic data from northern Australian cattle has identified key regions of the genome that influence traits like fertility, growth and body condition, sometimes all at the same time. ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 10, 2026
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In human cells, DNA carries chemical or "epigenetic" marks that decide how genes will be used in different tissues. Yet in a group of specialized cells, known as "germ cells," which will later form sperm and eggs, these inherited ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 20, 2026
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26
DNA is the blueprint of life. Genes encode proteins and serve as the body's basic components. However, building a functioning organism also requires precise instructions about when, where, and how much those components should ...
Biotechnology
Feb 19, 2026
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19
A research team at the IPK Leibniz Institute has developed a method that enables the detailed observation of female meiosis—the process by which germ cells are formed—in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The FeM-ID (Female ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 19, 2026
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