September 2, 2008
Biomedical research conducted in the last decade has impressed upon society that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, alcohol dependence and major depression can have genetic bases. Unfortunately, the public’s scientific knowledge has not necessarily translated into social acceptance. “The [...]
August 28, 2008
The opening bars of “Who are You” crash through the speakers, the credits roll and the lead actors of “CSI” pull up at the crime scene to investigate yet another murder. Since "CSI" premiered in 2000, the show, its spin-offs and imitators have hammered home the idea that a person’s genetic [...]
August 27, 2008
When Jon Huss and his colleagues proposed a gene wiki on Wikipedia last month, they were following previous attempts to take advantage of collaborative technology and let researchers share information gleaned from their work. In the current issue of Nature Genetics though, Massachusetts Institute of [...]
August 26, 2008
SNPwatch gives you the latest news about research linking various traits and conditions to individual genetic variations. These studies are exciting because they offer a glimpse into how genetics may affect our bodies and health; but in most cases, more work is needed before this research can provide [...]
August 20, 2008
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States — every year it kills nearly 440,000 Americans. While about 70 percent of the 45 million Americans who currently smoke have said they want to quit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that only about 10 [...]
August 19, 2008
In a recent post we used an analysis of Craig Venter’s genome to illustrate how much has yet to be learned about the relationship between genetic variation and health-related traits. A new paper by Venter and colleagues at his Rockville, Maryland-based institute provides a prime example. Writing in the [...]
August 19, 2008
Despite CNET's assertion last week that Bigfoot couldn't possibly be a hoax because people always bring their A game to Palo Alto, the carcass in the ice has turned out to be a rubber gorilla suit. And the freezer wasn't that big either. Sorry, Bigfoot believers, this means the DNA evidence presented at [...]
August 17, 2008
On Friday, we sent 23andMe Science Writing Intern Massie Ballon to the most unusual science news event she has ever covered — the announcement in a Palo Alto hotel that two men had discovered the body of a creature they believe to be Bigfoot while hiking in the woods of northern Georgia. This is her [...]
August 10, 2008
SNPwatch gives you the latest news about research linking various traits and conditions to individual genetic variations. These studies are exciting because they offer a glimpse into how genetics may affect our bodies and health; but in most cases, more work is needed before this research can provide [...]
August 7, 2008
Dogs have served humans as guards, guides, retrievers, shepherds and companions for more than 10,000 years. Now geneticists are enlisting their help in another task — identifying the genetic roots of diseases that affect both man and beast. Dogs suffer from a number of inherited eye conditions; the [...]
