genetics

Metagenomic sequencing can help detect unknown pathogens, but its widespread use faces challenges.

Much like with a zebra’s stripes or a leopard’s spots, Turing patterns explain how the distinctive patterns of human fingerprints form, a study finds.

Researchers dissect the Neanderthal-derived region on chromosome 3 that drives severe COVID-19 to zero in on the key causal variants.

An engineered methylation pattern persisted for four generations of mice, demonstrating transgenerational epigenetic inheritance can occur in mammals.

Two studies find that tumor-specific antigens are often peptides that result from a splicing event between exons and transposable elements.

A study employing CRISPR/Cas9 to explore the evolutionary beginnings of some giant viruses finds evidence their large genomes arose from gene duplications.

In both the laboratory and clinic, scientists harness viral genetic transfer capabilities to develop gene therapies that modulate cellular function.

A study identifies nearly 3,000 genes where one allele tends to be expressed more than the other, but the findings ignited controversy in the field. 

Splitting Chinook salmon into two groups based on their DNA could aid conservation efforts. But some researchers argue that this would be a misuse of the data.

Chinook make their way up the Klamath River every year, but fewer and fewer arrive in the spring.

Various concerned groups have been petitioning NOAA Fisheries to list spring-run Chinook salmon in Oregon and Northern California for over a decade.

Prairie voles lacking functional receptors for oxytocin form normal social bonds, a finding that could explain the hormone’s clinical failures.

By analyzing the genomes of 23 remarkably long-lived fish species, a study found two metabolic pathways associated with longevity.

Repairing damaged DNA appears to drive aging by causing the loss of epigenetic information, but restoring that information reverses such effects, a study finds.