An international consortium involving over 50 institutions has announced an ambitious project to assemble high-quality genome sequences of all 66,000 vertebrate species on Earth, including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. With an estimated total cost of $600 million dollars, it’s a project of biblical proportions. Continue reading Plan to Build a Genetic Noah’s Ark Includes a Staggering 66,000 Species
Tag Archives: GENES
These Twins, One Black and One White, Will Make You Rethink Race
When Amanda Wanklin and Michael Biggs fell in love, they “didn’t give a toss” about the challenges they might face as a biracial couple, Amanda says. “What was more important was what we wanted together.”
Continue reading These Twins, One Black and One White, Will Make You Rethink Race
Scientists Figure Out Why Italian Family Can’t Feel Pain
An Italian woman, her two daughters, and her three grandchildren have always had trouble feeling pain. They can’t sense temperature. They break bones without noticing. Now, a team of scientists in the United Kingdom think they’ve figured out why.
Continue reading Scientists Figure Out Why Italian Family Can’t Feel Pain
Scientists use gene editing to eliminate HIV DNA in live mice
A team of scientists have snipped away HIV DNA from the genome of live mice using a CRISPR system, and the rodents lived to (kinda) tell the tale. It’s still much too early to call the method a possible cure, but the fact that it worked on a living animal opens up a lot of possibilities. Will it work on other diseases, like cancer? Maybe, but that’s something scientists have to look into. These researchers headed by neurovirologist Kamel Khalili have been focusing on the use of the gene-editing technique to eliminate HIV for years. They successfully excised HIV DNA in live mice last year, but this round is a lot more thorough.
Continue reading Scientists use gene editing to eliminate HIV DNA in live mice
HOW A SINGLE GENE COULD BECOME A VOLUME KNOB FOR HUMAN SUFFERING
ON A SCALE of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain? Would you say it aches, or would you say it stabs? Does it burn, or does it pinch? How long would you say you’ve been hurting? And are you taking anything for it?
Continue reading HOW A SINGLE GENE COULD BECOME A VOLUME KNOB FOR HUMAN SUFFERING
A Sixth Sense? It’s in Your Genes
Taste, smell, vision, hearing, touch and… awareness of one’s body in space? Yes, humans have at least six senses, and a new study suggests that the last one, called proprioception, may have a genetic basis.
How Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything
The future is going to be genetically modified. That means the future could be disease-free with babies being designed in labs by parents who live in a world where aging has stopped all thanks to genetic engineering. Or the future might be something else entirely with state-mandated genetic engineering to turn citizens into super soldiers. Who knows.
Continue reading How Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything