In a tiny worm, a close-up view of where genes are working

Scientists have long prized the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for studying the biology of multicellular organisms. The millimeter-long worms are easy to grow in the lab and manipulate genetically, and have only ...

Does physical activity influence the health of future offspring?

Physical and mental exercise can affect the learning ability of future offspring, at least in mice. This particular form of inheritance is mediated by certain RNA molecules that influence gene activity. These molecules accumulate ...

Active genetics technology opens new horizons

In 2015, University of California San Diego biologists Ethan Bier and Valentino Gantz developed a breakthrough technology known as "active genetics," which results in parents transmitting a genetic trait to most of their ...

More genes are active in high-performance maize

When two maize inbred lines are crossed with each other, an interesting effect occurs: The hybrid offspring have a significantly higher yield than either of the two parent plants. Scientists at the University of Bonn have ...

How good bacteria control your genes

Scientists from the Babraham Institute near Cambridge in collaboration with colleagues from Brazil and Italy have discovered a way that good bacteria in the gut can control genes in our cells. The work, published today (9th ...

Novel histone modifications couple metabolism to gene activity

Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU) have discovered that two new classes of histone modifications couple cellular metabolism to gene activity. The study was published ...

In fruit fly and human genetics, timing is everything

Every animal starts as a clump of cells, which over time multiply and mature into many different types of cells, tissues, and organs. This is fundamental biology. Yet, the details of this process remain largely mysterious. ...

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