Genetics

The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system is an extremely powerful tool, but off-target edits can have serious consequences. Now, researchers have found a mutation of the CRISPR enzyme that’s almost 100 times more precise than the most commonly used one.

An archaeological conundrum may have been solved by DNA analyses carried out by a team of Stanford Medicine scientists led by Alexander Ioannidis that indicates Native Americans and Polynesians came into contact centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans.

A study from scientists at the University of California, Davis, has found unpasteurized milk, commonly known as raw milk, holds large volumes of antimicrobial-resistant genes which can swiftly spawn dangerous bacteria when left at room temperature.

While much research has investigated short-term physiological responses to exercise a new study has set out to examine how long-term physical training, consistently performed for over a decade, can influence gene activity to prevent metabolic disease.

New research suggests a person’s lifespan could be predicted at a young age by measuring the volume of genetic mutations they accumulate, raising the prospect of developing medical interventions so people could live and stay healthy much longer.

Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics presented new data from one of the first trials testing gene-editing therapy in human subjects. Fifteen months on from first patient treatment, the therapy is showing remarkable efficacy treating two rare blood diseases.

A new study is demonstrating how ancient animal DNA, extracted from Dead Sea Scroll parchments, can help with piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of disparate fragments of the ancient manuscripts found in the Judean desert.

A genetic variant inherited from our ancient Neanderthal relatives and thought to confer heightened fertility has been found in modern humans. The new research suggests almost one in three European women carry some degree of the gene variant.

Great insights have been gathered recently into the genetic drivers underpinning obesity, but little has focused on genes related to thinness. A new study has identified one gene that seems to play a role in promoting thinness in humans and animals.

GMOs in food are subject to some tight regulations. Now, researchers at North Carolina State University have created a new version of CRISPR that lets scientists edit crops without introducing new DNA, meaning they technically aren’t GMOs.

A study has homed in on the sex-specific activity of a gene that both increases risk of developing schizophrenia and decreases the risk of developing lupus, offering novel insights into how some diseases appear in different rates in men and women.

Scientists investigating the genetics underlying a peculiar behavior in South Africa’s Cape honey bee have made a groundbreaking discovery, pinpointing the single gene that enables them to reproduce without having sex.