Chromosomes are tightly packaged bundles of DNA, the chemical that encodes genetic information.
Most of the cells in a human body have a set of 46 chromosomes in their nucleus, while egg and sperm cells have only 23.
Separately, each of the mitochondria in each cell of a human body contain their own DNA, in the form of (multiple copies of) a circular chromosome.
Scientists at the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago, US, say that they have developed a technique that could be used to allow two women to have a child together, without the need for sperm. The technique involves manipulating cells taken from a woman and turning them into 'artificial sperm' which...
Research has been published which suggests that there may be a genetic link to intelligence. The research, published in Nature Neuroscience, shows that the size of certain regions of the brain is genetically controlled and that there is a relationship between this size and intelligence. Using magnetic resonance imaging, Dr...
Researchers at DeCODE genetics, the Rekyavik-based company studying the genetic records of the Icelandic population, announced last week that it had discovered a gene linked to the main form of Parkinson's disease. The gene was found on a small section of chromosome one after a study of data from 51...
Scientists from the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Genetics in Los Angeles, US are seeking a way to fertilise human eggs without the need for sperm. The research involves the use of a chemical cocktail which acts as 'artificial sperm', tricking an egg to form an embryo. The embryos would...
Scientists from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford and the Institute of Child Health in London have identified a gene linked to the disruption of speech and language development. The genetic link may show why some people suffer from particular language impairments. Professor Anthony Monaco from the...
A report in the journal Nature says that scientists in China have inserted human DNA into rabbit eggs that have been stripped of their own chromosomes. The team, from the Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences in Guangzhou, hopes to use the resulting 'hybrid embryos' in embryo stem (ES) cell...
A team of scientists from four medical research centres in the US has discovered that a section of chromosome four contains a gene or genes associated with longevity. By studying the genes of 137 people aged 100 years or more, and their siblings aged between 91 and 109, a section...
Human reproduction and embryology have certainly made a few headlines this week. This edition of BioNews reports some of the stories that have caused journalists to get hot under the collar: an Australian team has found a way to fertilise eggs without sperm; American scientists are creating embryos from donor...
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) agreed in principle on Friday to allow a new type of genetic screening of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) embryos in the UK. Known as aneuploidy screening, the technique enables embryos to be tested for a range of genetic abnormalities and may help fertility...
Doctors from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a technique in which no sperm is required to make an embryo. Designed as a method of getting around male infertility, the technique involves taking any body cell and 'fertilising' an egg with it. Body cells, however, contain two sets of...
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