New DNA cattle test beefs up dairy and meat quality

(Phys.org) —A genomics technique developed at Cornell to improve corn can now be used to improve the quality of milk and meat, according to research published online May 17 in the journal PLOS ONE.

The many faces of the bacterial defense system

Even bacteria have a kind of "immune system" they use to defend themselves against unwanted intruders – in their case, viruses. Scientists at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany, were ...

Hares, turtles, and the race to unravel genetic diversity

If you thought the only way to solve a puzzle was by looking at a picture of its end result as you go, guess again. Using an innovative approach to the study of genetic diversity, an international research team, comprising ...

Evil gene would make punishment a tricky business

Are there evil genes or is it only people who can be evil? A recent story in The Age ("Deep Divide of 'Evil Genes'") raised the question of whether criminals might evade responsibility for their crimes by blaming their genes.

New culturing tool reveals a full genome from single cells

(Phys.org) —A new technique for genetic analysis, "gel microdroplets," helps scientists generate complete genomes from a single cell, thus opening the door to understanding the complex interrelationships of bacteria, viruses ...

Chromosome 'anchors' organize DNA during cell division

For humans to grow and to replace and heal damaged tissues, the body's cells must continually reproduce, a process known as "cell division," by which one cell becomes two, two become four, and so on. A key question of biomedical ...

30,000-year-old DNA preserved in poo a window into the past

(Phys.org)—Murdoch University DNA scientists have used 30,000-year-old faecal matter known as middens to ascertain which plants and animals existed at that time in the hot, arid Pilbara region of North Western Australia.

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