I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but you don’t have a gene for being tall, or a gene for caffeine addiction or a gene for intelligence. No one does. In...

Image by Mariana Ruiz LadyofHats [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons By Bethann Hromatka, Ph.D.New research suggests that a once-fatal congenital heart defect – sometimes called “blue baby syndrome” – is...

The hormone oxytocin has garnered many names in the media, from the “cuddle chemical” to the “morality molecule,” and it’s clear that it impacts social bonding. A new study suggests that people with at least one A at – a SNP in the oxytocin receptor gene called OXTR – are readily perceived by others as being less empathetic than GG individuals.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by very high levels of sugar in the blood and is the most common form of diabetes. Although eating rich food and leading a sedentary...

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...

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...

Much to the surprise of many scientists, a lot of the SNPs identified in genomewide association studies have not been in the parts of genes that encode the molecular machinery...

It’s no secret that obesity rates are rising — quickly.   Between 2000 and 2005 the prevalence of obesity rose by 24%.   Extreme cases increased by more than 50%....

In the current issue of Nature Genetics, two teams of researchers identify nine new genetic locations associated with obesity. Almost all of them are within or close to genes that...

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...