The obesity-related gene FTO also plays a role in loss of brain tissue, according to a US study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week...
Two board members of the Canadian federal agency 'Assisted Human Reproduction Canada' have unexpectedly quit. This follows the resignations of four senior staff members last year...
Should egg and sperm donors be rewarded with souvenir mugs and T-shirts? An independent think tank has launched a consultation to consider this and other radical ideas for increasing donations...
Researchers studying the beginnings of human life on Earth say that the development of the genetic code was an inevitable consequence...
Rats fed on high-fat diets increased the chances of their daughters and granddaughters developing breast cancer, a US study has found...
The Vatican announced on Friday it is to finance research into the potential use of adult stem cells for therapeutic purposes. It has agreed to donate two million Euros to a research project led by the University of Maryland's School of Medicine in the US to investigate the use of intestinal adult stem cells for treating disease...
Genetic influences are estimated to account for up to 82 per cent of a child's reading ability, but children can only make the most of their natural abilities if this is combined with excellent teaching, a study published in the journal Science last week has found...
Expectant mothers' lifestyles and environment could have a 'major impact' on their sons' sperm counts, a study has found...
Gordon Brown and David Cameron support embryonic stem cell research, provided it's correctly regulated, they revealed during the TV leaders' debate on Thursday...
Comment
Gene-ecology interactions and psychological disorders
by Dr Tom Dickins and 1 others
The models emerging from behavioural biology are increasingly sophisticated. They do not undermine the quest for candidate genes, but rather augment our understanding of why those genes might persist in populations and be differentially expressed across circumstances....
Adieu Ailsa, Greetings Gabrielle
by Sarah Norcross
This week's edition of BioNews will be the last with our current Genetics Editor, Ailsa Taylor, at the helm. Ailsa is leaving BioNews after three years with us, and is joining Cancer Research UK where she will work full-time as Science Press Officer. Of course, we wish her every success there...