Thanks to a new, cheap and accurate DNA-editing technique called CRISPR-Cas9, targeted genetic modification in humans is no longer just the realm of science fiction. Both the British and U.S. governments recently gave scientists ...
Biotechnology
Sep 6, 2016
0
15
The persistence of heritable disease raises an evolutionary paradox. When DNA goes awry, and a harmful mutation sprouts up that affects survival, why aren't these simply purged from a population over generations?
Evolution
Jun 28, 2016
0
7
Incorrectly folded proteins can cause a variety of diseases. Danish researchers have found a solution for preventing this misfolding.
Biochemistry
Jun 9, 2016
0
9
Deakin University and UNSW Australia researchers have made a rare observation of rapid evolution in action in the wild, documenting the spread of a newly arisen genetic mutation in invasive starlings, which could shed light ...
Evolution
Jan 5, 2016
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5
Despite a billion years of evolution separating humans from the baker's yeast in their refrigerators, hundreds of genes from an ancestor that the two species have in common live on nearly unchanged in them both, say biologists ...
Biotechnology
May 21, 2015
5
58
A new study suggests that bacteria may be able to jump between host species far easier than was previously thought. Researchers discovered that a single genetic mutation in a strain of bacteria infectious to humans enables ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 17, 2015
0
40
In 2011 the world's farms produced a total of 681 million tonnes of wheat, but with an ever growing demand from a growing population, there is a real need for increasing yields yet further.
Biotechnology
Sep 12, 2014
0
0
Researchers have traced genetic changes in a bacterial pathogen over 450 years, and claim that epidemics of bacterial disease in human history may be caused by chance environmental changes rather than genetic mutations.
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 4, 2014
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0
As part of an international research project, a team of researchers has developed a DNA clamp that can detect mutations at the DNA level with greater efficiency than methods currently in use. Their work could facilitate rapid ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 19, 2013
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0
In sickle cell disease, hemoglobin—the oxygen-carrying component of blood—forms fibers that stiffen red blood cells and cause life-threatening symptoms. Using light-scattering techniques to study the detailed thermodynamics ...
General Physics
Nov 5, 2013
0
0
