Are placebo responses genetic?

Steven Novella | 
A study recently published in PLOS one (Catechol-O-Methyltransferase val158met Polymorphism Predicts Placebo Effect in Irritable Bowel Syndrome) purports to have ...
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Children and DNA

Bonnie Rochman | 
DNA provides the operating instructions for our cells that influence everything from a person’s hair color to susceptibility to disease ...

New genomics study shows ancestry could help solve disease riddles

Explosive advancement in human genome sequencing opens new possibilities for identifying the genetic roots of certain diseases and finding cures ...

Comparing family history and genetic tests for predicting complex disease risk

In a new theoretical study, 23andMe, the personal genetics company, developed a mathematical model which shows that family history and ...

The genetics of nearsightedness, stretch marks, and motion sickness

What do nearsightedness, stretch marks, and motion sickness have to do with each other? They don’t appear to be genetically ...

Mentally handicapped children may not have inhertited handicap from parents

Tim Ecott | 
In children with severe intellectual disabilities genetic causes are very frequent and we have found in more than half of ...

Genetic traces of extinct human species discovered

DNA collected from modern hunter-gatherers -- the Pygmies of Cameroon, the Sandawe and Hadza of Tanzania, and the Khoe-San of ...

Lawsuit: Should state allow DNA to prove native Hawaiian ancestry

Alia Wong | 
A man who says he’s at least half Native Hawaiian but doesn't have the records to prove it is suing ...
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Eurogenes Genetic Ancestry Project: There’s something very North Eurasian about Indo-European

Recently we learned that Europeans, especially North Europeans, are actually very North Eurasian genetically (see here). Then, last week, scientists ...

Twin study finds genetics role in personality disorders

Rick Nauert | 
A Norwegian study of twins expands the role of genetics in the development of a personality disorder, yet cautions that ...

Khoe-San people represent earliest branch off human family tree

Ian Steadman | 
The Khoe-San people of southern Africa have been recognised as one of the earliest-formed distinct human genetic groups for several ...

Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa

A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to ...

How do organisms evolve?

A team of researchers at Michigan State University has documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions. The ...

Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa

Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with ...

Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa

Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with ...

The Bushmen tell us a lot about human evolution and genetics

Steve Sabol | 
When it comes to the human genetics of the Khoe-San there’s a little that’s stale and unoriginal for me in ...
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Genomic studies find all humans did not originate in East Africa

Douglas Heaven | 
The largest study of genetic variance across present-day populations in southern Africa suggests that there is no single place in ...

Geneticists verify cholesterol-cancer link

University of Rochester Medical Center scientists discovered new genetic evidence linking cholesterol and cancer, raising the possibility that cholesterol medications ...

Genes could be powerful predictor of our capacity to deal with stress, study shows

Shannon Chapla | 
Work stress, job satisfaction and health problems due to high stress have more to do with genes than you might ...

Obesity linked to genes

Drishya Nair | 
There has been an alarming rise in the number of obese people in the last few decades and the epidemic ...

Breast cancer linked to genetic changes caused by mother’s eating habits

Christine Kearney | 
Mothers who eat fatty foods while pregnant may increase the risk of breast cancer among their daughters and granddaughters ...

Genetic development may protect the Maasai people of Africa

Irene Berg Sørensen | 
The Maasai are a very special people who live primarily from farming and livestock activities in Kenya and Tanzania. They ...

Home genetic test for alcoholism may carry perils

Being told you have a genetic predisposition to alcoholism could make you feel you have less control over your drinking, ...

Will personalized medicine challenge or reify categories of race and ethnicity?

Joan Fujimura, Ramya Rajagopalan | 
In the last 5 years, medical geneticists have been conducting studies to examine possible links between DNA and disease on ...

Could internet addiction be genetic?

Not only is Internet addiction a legitimate compulsion, it may have the same genetic component as nicotine addiction, a new ...

Unraveling the human genome: 6 molecular milestones

Stephanie Pappas | 
In a milestone for the understanding of human genetics, scientists just announced the results of five years of work in ...

Will overregulation in Europe stymie synthetic biology?

Henry Miller | 
The promising new field of “synthetic biology” involves the design and construction of new biological components, devices and systems, as ...
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