Epigenetic changes don't last

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck would have been delighted: geneticists no longer dismiss out of hand his belief that acquired traits can be passed on to offspring. When Darwin published his book on evolution, Lamarck's theory of transformation ...

When plants go polyploid

(PhysOrg.com) -- Plant lineages with multiple copies of their genetic information face higher extinction rates than their relatives, researchers report in Science magazine.

Scientists offer way to address 'age-old' questions

Scientists have devised a method to measure the impact of age on the growth rates of cellular populations, a development that offers new ways to understand and model the growth of bacteria, and could provide new insights ...

'Hidden' differences of chromosome organization become visible

Why different species have dissimilar sets of chromosomes? Why the differentiated species often conserve apparently identical chromosome complements? Furthermore, why, while chromosome rearrangements can considerably change ...

Speeding up evolution: Orchid epigenetics

Organisms adapt to their dynamic environment using various strategies. Ovidiu Paun, working at the Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, investigates how marsh orchids adjust to and diffuse in different habitats. ...

Researcher argues that sex reduces genetic variation

Biology textbooks maintain that the main function of sex is to promote genetic diversity. But Henry Heng, Ph.D., associate professor in WSU's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, says that's not the case.

Discovering the bigger picture in chromosomes

By mapping various genomes onto an X-Y axis, a team comprised mostly of Kansas State University researchers has found that Charles Darwin and a fruit fly -- among other organisms -- have a lot in common genetically.

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