DNA

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Project Launched to Map Genes of 1,000 People

Controversial international genome project

(Newser) - An international project to sequence the genomes of at least 1,000 people has begun at three research institutes in England, China and the US. The information gathered in the "1,000 Genomes Project " will be used to create a reference map of genetic variations. "This is...

DNA Test to Predict Cancer Risk
DNA Test to Predict Cancer Risk

DNA Test to Predict Cancer Risk

$300 test: a blessing or a curse?

(Newser) - A DNA test that can help predict a man's risk of developing prostate cancer is expected to be available later this year for as little as $300. It's the first glimpse of what's likely to be a revolution in medical testing to provide patients a window into their possible future....

Gene Tweaking Dramatically Extends Life

Altered yeast microbes live 10 times longer than control group

(Newser) - In a breakthrough that may have implications for humans, researchers have made the lifespan of yeast 10 times longer, doubling the previous record for life expansion, LiveScience reports. Genetic alteration and a low-calorie diet prolonged the microbe's existence from the typical 1 week to 10 weeks. The scientists involved have...

Want to Meet the Smell of Your Dreams?

New dating agency plans to use genetics to find right chemistry

(Newser) - The nose knows. A new dating agency aims to use research into body odor to match up singles who just sniff right to each other, the Economist reports. The founder of ScientificMatch.com is drawing on a ten-year-old study that found a genetic reason for why women found the smell...

Study Finds Mutated Genes Raise Autism Risk

Could be 'tip of the iceberg' of gene flaws linked to disorder

(Newser) - Researchers studying the DNA of autistic children have discovered a pair of genetic mutations that raise the risk of developing autism as high as a hundredfold, USA Today reports. The defects in chromosome 16 occur in just 1% of autistic kids, but that figure represents some 10,000 children. A...

DNA Tests Show Rebels Don't Have Colombian Boy

Alleged hostage is actually in foster care

(Newser) - DNA tests all but confirmed today that a 3-year-old boy Colombian rebels had pledged to include in a hostage-release deal has actually been in foster care since 2005. The group FARC negotiated the release of Emmanuel Rojas—born to a female hostage and her rebel captor—with Hugo Chavez; the...

Innocent Con Freed After 27 Years
Innocent Con Freed After
27 Years

Innocent Con Freed After 27 Years

DNA testing confirmed he wasn't guilty of rape

(Newser) - A man who spent 27 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit was released yesterday after DNA evidence proved he hadn't assaulted his accuser. Charles Chatman, now 47, had maintained his innocence throughout his time in jail, refusing to give an account of the crime to the parole...

New Tech Identifies Rare DNA Disorders

Services link families whose kids were once labeled autistic

(Newser) - New procedures that scan all 46 human chromosomes are helping doctors classify disorders once lumped together as "developmentally delayed" or "autistic"—and helping parents connect to families whose children also have uncommon conditions. The New York Times looks at the lives of parents isolated by their experience...

Synthetic DNA Comes to Life
Synthetic DNA Comes to Life

Synthetic DNA Comes to Life

As breakthrough nears, questions multiply like cells

(Newser) - Scientists are on the verge of creating new life forms from synthetic DNA and already sparking ethical questions, the Washington Post reports. Researchers can make entire chromosomes from sugars, phosphates, and nitrogen-based compounds, then insert the DNA into a host cell. The new codes can transform bacteria or yeast into...

Scientist Blasted for Racism Has Black Genes

Watson said blacks less intelligent than whites

(Newser) - Nobel laureate James Watson, famous for co-discovering DNA and infamous for his theory that black Africans are less intelligent than whites, turns out to have a genetic profile with 16 times as many black genes as the average white European, the Independent reports. Watson's genes are said to be comparable...

Mom Describes Beating, Killing 'Baby Grace'

Toddler was tortured and thrown, suffered 3 skull fractures

(Newser) - Texas police are investigating whether Riley Ann Sawyers, known as “Baby Grace,” was routinely abused by her mother and stepfather before they allegedly killed her, stored the body, then dumped her in Galveston Bay, reports the AP. In an affidavit, Kimberly Trenor said they beat the girl, held...

Texas Police Tentatively ID Baby Grace

Mother, stepfather held in case of child whose body washed ashore

(Newser) - The remains of a young girl whose body washed ashore in a storage bin were tentatively identified by Texas officials yesterday, and the child's mother and stepfather have been arrested on charges related to her death. The child called Baby Grace is now thought to be 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyer,...

Sex Scandal Roils Atlanta Megachurch

After DNA test, archbishop admits 'nephew' is his son

(Newser) - Revelations was the theme of the day for a scandal-plagued Atlanta church as its archbishop had to admit that his "nephew" is really his son. And worse, he’d lied about it under oath, AP reports. A court-ordered DNA test showed Archbishop Earl Paulk fathered D.E. Paulk. Both...

Hey Baby, What's Your Genome?
Hey Baby, What's Your Genome?

Hey Baby, What's Your Genome?

One scribe dared to see her DNA, which cost $1K and some spit

(Newser) - Cheaper genetic testing—which can cost only $1,000 and some saliva—recently inspired one New York Times scribe to check out her own DNA. She sent a sample to a start-up company, one of three in the field, and waited. But she had reservations: What if she was prone...

Gipper's Family Seethes Over Exhumation

Paternity questions, and Gipp, put to rest, but not controversy

(Newser) - Ronald Reagan played George Gipp in a movie about the football star’s life, but now a furor has erupted over the exhumation of Gipp’s body, 87 years after his death, the New York Times reports. Relatives and residents of his Michigan hometown remain incensed about the televised removal...

DIY Gene Test: Get Results in the Mail

New home exam lets users swab cheeks, send away for info

(Newser) - A new British company has developed a home DNA test that determines whether customers are genetically predisposed to ailments such as breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, and osteoporosis. Users scrape a cheek with a swab, sign a special waiver if they want to know results even for incurable diseases, such...

Cat Out of the Bag: Kitty's DNA Decoded

Deciphering feline genome could help with HIV, blindness research

(Newser) - A 4-year-old Abyssinian cat named Cinnamon has become the first of her species to have its DNA sequenced, the BBC reports. Cats now join dogs, chimps, rats, mice, cows and people as mammals with decoded genomes. Cinnamon’s sequence could shed light on hundreds of human illnesses; cats can suffer...

DNA Pioneeer Kornberg Dies
DNA Pioneeer Kornberg Dies

DNA Pioneeer Kornberg Dies

Biochemist won in '59 for research; son received prize in 2006

(Newser) - Nobel laureate Dr. Arthur Kornberg, 89, a pioneering biochemist in the fields of DNA and human genetics, has died of respiratory failure, the New York Times reports. Kornberg shared the award in 1959 for his research into how DNA works, and that research is the foundation for many of today's...

Watson Retires Amid Race Furor
Watson Retires Amid Race Furor

Watson Retires Amid Race Furor

Watson leaves job as Laboratory head

(Newser) - Amid outrage over recent racial remarks, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson is retiring as chancellor of Long Island’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the New York Times reports. Watson, 79, said his departure was overdue but admitted this wasn’t how he’d wanted to leave. The lab suspended Watson...

France Passes Controversial DNA Immigration Bill

DNA testing has citizens up in arms

(Newser) - France's hotly contested immigration bill that includes provisions for DNA testing passed the legislature yesterday. The bill tightens restrictions on would-be immigrants applying for entry to reunite with family members already in the country, and could include DNA testing to prove they're related to people living in France.

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