Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) Department of Genome Sciences have identified several sporadic or “de novo” genetic mutations in children with autism spectrum disorder. The researchers applied leading edge molecular biology techniques and massively parallel sequencing to simultaneously examine all of the protein coding portions of the genome, collectively called the exome. The […]
When the Human Genome Project ended a decade ago, scientists thought that they had closed the lid on all that is to be known about our genes. But what they really did was open a Pandora’s Box, says theoretical evolutionary biologist Prof. Eva Jablonka of Tel Aviv University’s Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy […]
Scientists who pioneered sequencing the genomes of cancer patients to find novel genetic changes at the root of the disease now have turned their attention to a laboratory workhorse – a mouse. By sequencing the genome of a mouse with cancer, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered mutations that […]
Scientists have invented methods to scout the human genome’s repetitive landscapes, where DNA sequences are highly identical and heavily duplicated. These advances, as reported today in Science, can identify subtle but important differences among people in the number and content of repeated DNA segments.
Mutations in a single gene can cause several types of developmental brain abnormalities that experts have traditionally considered different disorders. With support from the National Institutes of Health, researchers found those mutations through whole exome sequencing – a new gene scanning technology that cuts the cost and time of searching for rare mutations.
In one of the first efforts of its kind, UCLA researchers have taken mammalian genome maps, including human maps, one step further by showing not just the order in which genes fall in the genome but which genes actually interact. The findings, published in the August issue of the journal Genome Research, will help researchers […]
How did we evolve the most loving brain on the planet? Humans are the most sociable species on earth – for better and for worse. On the one hand, we have the greatest capacities for empathy, communication, friendship, romance, complex social structures, and altruism. On the other, we have the greatest capacities for shaming, emotional […]
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