Much of the phenotypic variation that is observed within and between species is the result of differences in gene regulation: specifically when, where and how much the genes are expressed. Given the ...

Epigenetics is the study of various heritable alterations that control gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. 1 The name epigenetics comes from the Greek prefix “epi”, which means on top ...

Two of the traits that set modern humans apart from non-human primates are taller stature and a higher basal metabolic rate. Researchers have identified a genetic variant that contributed to the ...

New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered a crucial piece in the puzzle of how all animals with a spine—including all mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians—evolved. In a paper ...

Researchers at the School of Biological Sciences of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have uncovered how eukaryotic cells can control gene activity even after losing one of their major gene-regulatory ...

After a lifetime in the field of epigenetics, and nearly 20 years after my colleagues and I coined the term “genome editing,” I will be the first to admit that describing the “epigenome”—a marvelous ...

Researchers at the Jackson Laboratory (JAX), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Yale University, have used artificial intelligence (AI) to design thousands of new DNA switches that can ...

In the last couple blog posts, I introduced the serotonin transporter promoter gene, or 5-HTTLPR. It’s a gene that controls how many serotonin re-uptake transporters you have, and differences in this ...

What do your genes have to do with growing old? Quite a lot. But is it due to the actual DNA, or the way those genes are expressed? KPBS sci-tech reporter Thomas Fudge has more on new research that ...