Meet the 'Halloween Genes': Spook, Shadow, and Shade
Scientists who study Drosophila, the humble fruit fly, like to have some fun when naming newly identified genes and…
Genetics
Genetics & Tech, Science, and Culture News, Photos, Videos & More.
Ancestry Sites Could Soon Expose Nearly Anyone's Identity, Researchers Say
Genetic testing has helped plenty of people gain insight into their ancestry, and some services even help users find…
Scientists May Have Found a Genetic Risk Factor for Erectile Dysfunction
A group of scientists believe they’ve uncovered at least some of the genetic risk factors that can contribute to a…
Your Genetic Testing Results Can Change—Here's Why
The first wave of routine genetics testing has already helped millions of people learn about their hereditary risk for…
Plan to Build a Genetic Noah’s Ark Includes a Staggering 66,000 Species
An international consortium involving over 50 institutions has announced an ambitious project to assemble high-quality…
Appeals Court Upholds CRISPR Patent, Potentially Ending Bitter Dispute
An appeals court has upheld a 2017 decision recognizing scientists from the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT as the…
New Research Sheds Light on How Opium Poppies Evolved Their Powerful Painkillers
The opium poppy is famous for its ability to produce painkilling molecules. Now, by sequencing its genome, a team of…
A Gene Editing Study in Dogs Shows Promise in Treating a Deadly Form of Muscular Dystrophy
A new study of dogs published this week in Science offers a tantalizing glimpse of how life-changing the gene-editing…
A Genetic Study Using 23andMe Data Finds Link Between Schizophrenia and Cannabis Use
There’s evidence of a connection between cannabis use and schizophrenia, but it’s unclear whether the drug leads to…
New Study Finds Unintended Consequences of CRISPR Gene Editing
Scientists and biotechnologists have heralded the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system as revolutionary way to edit DNA,…
UK Ethics Council Says It’s ‘Morally Permissible’ to Create Genetically Modified Babies
The UK’s Nuffield Council on Bioethics says it’s acceptable to genetically engineer human embryos, so long as the…
Massive Genetic Study Finds Many Links Between Various Psychiatric Illnesses
An excavation of a million people’s genes has provided some interesting clues to how several common psychiatric…
Oops, a DNA Testing Company Accidentally Sent Strangers' Spit to Five Customers
DNA tests can be easily fooled and different tests may draw wildly different conclusions about the supposed heritage of…
How a Legal Brawl Between Two Rich Guys Could Change How We Think About DNA
It was the kind of lawsuit that would only happen in Florida.
I Tried a DNA-Optimized Skincare Routine—and I Was Allergic to It
The pitch was a skincare routine designed especially for me, genetically optimized to give me the skin I was “born to…
Genealogy Tourism Is Booming as Americans Search for Identity in DNA and Abroad
Liza Lizarraga has spent hours combing through paper and digital archives to track her family’s history the…
Mistletoe Somehow Survives Without Protein Needed by All Other Multicellular Life
Mistletoe might be a nice yuletide decoration, but it’s also a nefarious, parasitic badass that preys upon a series of…
I DNA Tested My Cat and She Was Not Happy About It
I was crawling around on the floor, chasing my cat, Avalanche, as she artfully wriggled away from me over and over…
Report: A DNA Testing Company Could Not Tell the Difference Between Human and Dog DNA
Dog may be man’s best friend, and even genetically similar to humans, to boot, but there are enough key differences…
Report: Police Forced a DNA Testing Company to Share a Customer’s Identity in the Golden State Killer Case
When investigators revealed last week that a genealogy website had played a major role in catching alleged Golden State…