genetic research

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Mosquito Experiment Has a Surprise Outcome
Mosquito Experiment
Has a Surprise Outcome
in case you missed it
Sep 21, 2019 12:05 PM CDT

Mosquito Experiment Has a Surprise Outcome

Instead of wiping them out, genetic engineering may have made them more 'robust'

(Newser) - The idea made sense on paper: Introduce male mosquitoes genetically engineered to be sterile into the bug population and watch the insect numbers drop. As New Atlas reports, that's generally what happened in a Brazil experiment—but only for about 18 months. At that point, the numbers rebounded, say...

China to Gene Researcher: Stop Your Work

Investigation underway into He Jiankui's claims to have altered the DNA of newborn twins

(Newser) - China has ordered a scientist to stop his controversial work after his bombshell claim about creating the world's first gene-edited babies . Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping said Thursday that He Jiankui's work "crossed the line of morality and ethics adhered to by the...

'Terrifying' Organism Can't Fit on Our Tree of Life

So maybe it deserves a new branch

(Newser) - Scoop up some dirt, and what do you get—a whole new branch on the tree of life. We can thank Canadian grad student Yana Eglit, who took a dirt sample while hiking and found two microscopic species that have long proved impossible to classify, the CBC reports. "They...

Scientists Create Human-Sheep Chimera for Organ Donations

Though it's long way from sheep embryos with human cells to that point

(Newser) - Human-animal chimeras are taking over the barnyard. A year after a research team announced they had created the first animal-human chimera by way of pig embryos containing human cells, they've done it again, the Guardian reports. This time it's sheep embryos with human cells. The goal is to...

Scientists 'Toy With Mother Nature' in 'Bold' Genetic First

For first time, scientists attempted gene editing inside a live human to try to cure genetic disease

(Newser) - Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change a person's DNA to cure a disease. The experiment was done Monday in California on 44-year-old Brian Madeux, the AP reports. Through an IV, Madeux, who has a metabolic...

When Teens Binge Drink, It Could Impact Their Future Kids

Repeated binge drinking appears to affect certain brain functions in offspring, at least in rats

(Newser) - Alcohol and adolescence don't mix—especially not when the alcohol is in regularly large quantities. So said Loyola University researchers at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience this week, where they presented their findings, Science Daily reports. They've been studying the effects of binge drinking on...

Why a Biotech Company Bought Sardinians' DNA

About one in every 2,000 people in Ogliastra lives to be 100

(Newser) - About one in every 2,000 people in Ogliastra, a province in eastern Sardinia, lives to be 100, the Financial Times reports. According to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News , that's five times the normal rate in the developed world and nearly 50 times greater than the rate in the...

Scientists Aim to Grow Human Organs in Farm Animals

But critics say 'chimera embryos' are an ethical mess

(Newser) - A handful of scientists may be blurring the line between human and animal as they work toward creating embryos that are a combination of both, NPR reports. Their goal is to grow human organs in farm animals for transplant into terminally ill patients—but the work is "ethically charged,...

Rare Disease Could Turn Boy Into 'Mannequin'

Jarvis Budd is one of 13 Australians to suffer from the rare disease

(Newser) - Three-year-old Jarvis Budd is one of just 13 people in Australia to suffer from a rare disease called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or "human mannequin disease." This means that with every minor fall or injury, he runs the risk of his joints seizing and triggering "abnormal bone growth,...

Easter Islanders Not as Isolated as Thought

Genetic data suggests travel to and from South America 20-plus generations ago

(Newser) - Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is such a remote speck of rock in the Pacific Ocean that it has been nicknamed "navel of the world." Yet a review of genetic data of 27 natives suggests the islanders made contact with outsiders hundreds of years before the first Europeans...

How Your DNA Affects Your Coffee Craving

8 genes found to be at work

(Newser) - Whether you drink a cup or a pot of coffee per day depends in part on your DNA, as scientists have previously shown. Now, however, a research team has gone further, naming eight specific genes—six of them newly identified—that play a role in your coffee intake, the AP...

Got a Hangover? Blame Your Genes
 Got a Hangover? 
 Blame Your Genes 
study says
Aug 31, 2014 8:21 AM CDT

Got a Hangover? Blame Your Genes

Researchers base finding on study of twins

(Newser) - When it comes to a bad reaction to alcohol, it seems not everyone is created equal. Genetics, researchers suggest, could be to blame for almost half the difference among people in whether we suffer the day after drinking. In a survey, study authors asked some 4,000 people on the...

Blood Test Might Reveal Suicide Risk

Gene key to our stress response: researchers

(Newser) - Scientists say they have a new way of determining suicide risk, and it's based on genetics—requiring only a blood test. Researchers running postmortem genome scans of brain samples found that the brains of those who'd committed suicide had less of a gene called SKA2, as well as...

Lab Creates Life With 'Alien' DNA

New letters added to DNA 'alphabet'

(Newser) - It's alive! Scientists say that they have created the first living organism with synthetic DNA unlike that of any life that has ever existed on Earth. Until now, all species used the same DNA code of four letters, but researchers added two new DNA bases labeled X and Y...

Gene Mutation Could Spawn Powerful Anti-Diabetes Drug

Rare mutation cuts risk by two-thirds

(Newser) - Genetic research has yielded what scientists believe could be an extremely powerful weapon in the fight against type 2 diabetes. A rare mutation has been found that slashes the risk of diabetes by around two-thirds, even in obese people, the New York Times reports. The mutation, which destroys a gene...

FDA May Allow Babies With 3 Parents

Observers cite concerns about 'designer babies'

(Newser) - An advisory panel to the FDA is investigating the merits of a technique dubbed "three-parent IVF," a method opponents worry could lead to so-called "designer babies," the Washington Post reports. The method in question aims to help mothers who carry risky DNA mutations—causing blindness or...

Parents May Pass Memories to Their Kids

Learned fears can continue through generations: mouse study

(Newser) - It may be possible to learn your parents' fears—without ever experiencing the relevant threat. Researchers taught mice to fear a cherry blossom smell, then looked at the creatures' sperm. A portion of DNA tied to the scent was particularly active, and two generations of descendants were found to be...

Scientists Find Gene to Wipe Memories

Find may offer path to fighting PTSD

(Newser) - Scientists at MIT are learning more about how old memories fade and new ones are created—suggesting we could someday have the power to wipe away traumatic experiences. The research is centered on a gene called Tet1, which scientists effectively turned off in a group of mice. Both the altered...

Elephant Man Mystery May Soon Be Solved

Bleached bones have posed a problem

(Newser) - For years, doctors have tried to conclusively determine which genetic mutations caused the lumpy skin, misshapen head, and other deformities that made Joseph Merrick the Elephant Man . Now researchers hope they'll finally be able to get a definitive answer. Though they could in theory extract DNA from Merrick's...

Week of Bad Sleep Alters Genes

 A Week of 
 Bad Sleep 
 Alters Your 
 Genes 
in case you missed it
Mar 2, 2013 12:54 PM CST

A Week of Bad Sleep Alters Your Genes

Study finds 'dramatic changes' taking place within days

(Newser) - Sleeplessness starts to bring about dramatic changes in the body within just a few days, disrupting hundreds of genes, hindering the body's ability to repair itself, and raising the risk of illnesses linked to immunity and stress, according to new research. Researchers analyzed the blood of subjects after they...

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