Genetics News and Research

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Genetics is the study of genes and heredity. Heredity is the passing of genetic information and traits (such as eye color and an increased chance of getting a certain disease) from parents to offspring.

Island Gigantism Drives Dramatic Changes in Scottish Wrens

A new study of British Wrens has provided new insights into the inner workings of 'island syndromes', according to research led by the University of Birmingham.

29 May 2026

Researchers Find Simple Genetic Links for Extreme Traits

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found evidence that people who fall at the extreme high or low ends of certain traits, such as cholesterol, blood glucose, height, and age at menopause, are more likely to have a simple genetic explanation than previously thought.

28 May 2026

Cornell Researchers Develop Safer CRISPR Technique Using DNA Nicks

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a safer and more precise way to study how genes function in living tissues by refining a recently developed CRISPR-based genetic technique in fruit flies, enabling researchers to better study how genes contribute to development and disease.

28 May 2026

Inflammatory Cytokines Trigger Higher Protein Levels as a Natural Defense Mechanism Against Disease

A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago provides important insight into how the pancreas protects itself during inflammation, pointing to promising new directions for treating pancreatitis.

23 May 2026

Essential Keratin Guides Embryonic Cell Movement in Developing Zebrafish

Hair, nails, and horns, all made up of keratin, are some of the hardest and most resilient structures in animals. Inside zebrafish cells, keratin plays a distinct role, giving them the strength they need to move together as a coherent tissue while modulating the driving forces behind their movement during early development. But what happens when keratin is missing?

22 May 2026

Scientists Find Key Genetic Boundary That Dictates Immune System Failure

Not all broken genes fail in the same way: some simply stop working, while others interfere with what still works.

22 May 2026

New Epigenetic Study Discovers Inheritance Patterns That Defy Mendel's Laws

Scientists have long known that the DNA code in genes is not the only way to pass genetic traits from parents to offspring.

21 May 2026

Protein Plays Dual Role by Silencing Thousands of Genes While Keeping Vital Ones Active

The causes of male infertility can be hard to diagnose, with many tests failing to detect genetic defects. Sometimes, infertility doesn't even involve the genes themselves. It can arise from improper folding of the father's DNA in the sperm. If a couple conceives, this mispackaged DNA can damage the lifelong health of the child.

21 May 2026

Researchers Compare Embryonic and Adult Mouse Brain Targets to Map Memory Networks

A peer-reviewed invited review published today in Genomic Psychiatry argues that the adult brain, when it learns and remembers and rewires, is not inventing something new.

20 May 2026

Cell Study Challenges Long-Standing View That Individual Human Genomes Evolve Independently

Scientists at Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have discovered that large pieces of DNA can transfer directly between human cells, and the DNA can persist and change how the recipient cell functions.

20 May 2026

Microbes Switch Functional States Without Genetic Mutations to Withstand Stress

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators have discovered that many gut bacteria use a flexible survival strategy to withstand disruptions such as antibiotics and diet changes.

20 May 2026

Low-Oxygen Environments Enhance Engraftment and Function of Transplanted Stem Cells

Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that human hematopoietic stem cells are highly sensitive to oxygen, which can dictate how the cells grow and function.

19 May 2026

Web-Based Platform Facilitates Chemical Structure Queries in Metabolomics

An international team led by researchers at University of California San Diego and University of California, Riverside has developed a free, web‑based platform designed to make public metabolomics data more accessible.

15 May 2026

Novel RNA Analysis Method Supports Antiviral Drug Discovery

Researchers from A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new method, called 'sm-PORE-cupine', to study individual RNA molecules and reveal how their structures influence gene regulation, a fundamental process that affects how cells function in health and disease.

15 May 2026

Inherited Genetic Pathways Shape Individual Cancer Risk and Outcomes

Why do two people with the same cancer diagnosis-the same stage, the same cell type, and the same clinical profile-often have completely different outcomes? For decades, scientists have studied acquired mutations in cancer to find answers, but mutations alone explain only part of the story.

12 May 2026

Epigenetic Changes May Influence Inheritance Beyond DNA Sequence Alone

When we think about genetic inheritance, we usually leap to DNA, the four-letter code containing the instructions for building a living organism.

11 May 2026

Why Women Face a Much Higher Risk of Autoimmune Disease

A recent study has identified biological abnormalities that make the female immune system more likely to mistakenly attack the body's own healthy tissues, providing insight into why women are significantly more likely than men to experience autoimmune diseases.

8 May 2026

UNC Professor Receives Grant to Investigate Origins of the Genetic Code

Over the course of natural history, animals and plants have evolved to adapt to an ever-changing environment and increase the chances of survival. So, too, has our own DNA.

7 May 2026

AI Model Reads DNA Like Language to Trace Ancestry

Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, the computer model traces pairs of genes back in time to their last common ancestor.

5 May 2026

Host Genetics and Sex Shape Evolution of Viral Virulence

During the early stages of a pandemic, viruses tend to evolve in ways that enhance their ability to reproduce and spread, rather than to evade the host's immune system.

4 May 2026