Genetics

What is Genetics?

Genetics is the study of heredity. Heredity is a biological process where a parent passes certain genes onto their children or offspring. Every child inherits genes from both of their biological parents and these genes in turn express specific traits. Some of these traits may be physical for example hair and eye color and skin color etc. On the other hand some genes may also carry the risk of certain diseases and disorders that may pass on from parents to their offspring.

History of Genetics

Genetics and Gene Expression

Genetic Change

Genetics Research and Technology

Genetic Inheritance

START and STOP Codons

What is the Expanded Genetic Code?

Applications of the Expanded Genetic Code

Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Genetic Risk Associated with Social Anxiety

Von Recklinghausen Disease Expressivity

See more featured articles »

What is Genetic Anticipation?

Genetic Regulation of Fingers and Toes Development

What is Recombinant Mapping?

Latest Genetics News and Research

Researchers develop novel therapy to combat antibiotic-resistant superbug infections

There may be a solution on the horizon to combating superbug infections resistant to antibiotics. The tenacious bacteria and fungi sicken more than 2.8 million people and lead to more than 35,000 deaths in the United States each year.

20 Feb 2020

New breakthrough offers hope for potential treatment of rare childhood epilepsy

Seizure disorders in babies are frightening and heartbreaking. A new basic science breakthrough offers hope for a potential treatment for rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathies resulting from a single genetic mutation.

20 Feb 2020

Both strands of microRNA cooperate to drive cancer growth and aggressiveness, research shows

Researchers long thought that only one strand of a double-stranded microRNA can silence genes. Though recent evidence has challenged that dogma, it's unclear what the other strand does, and how the two may be involved in cancer.

20 Feb 2020

UTHealth physician-scientist receives AHA’s $1 million Merit Award for stroke research

Louise D. McCullough, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is a recipient of the American Heart Association's prestigious $1 million Merit Award to investigate whether the maternal microbiome influences stroke risk in offspring.

19 Feb 2020

Altered potassium levels in neurons linked to mood swings in bipolar patients

People with bipolar disorder experience dramatic shifts in mood, oscillating between often debilitating periods of mania and depression.

19 Feb 2020

Sophisticated genetic tests are not notably better than traditional risk factors at predicting heart disease

Traditional cardiovascular risk factors often assessed in an annual physical, such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes, and smoking status, are at least as valuable in predicting who will develop coronary heart disease as a sophisticated genetic test that surveys millions of different points in DNA, a study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher suggests.

19 Feb 2020

IU researcher identifies new genomic regions that increase skin cancer risk

An Indiana University cancer researcher has identified eight new genomic regions that increase a person's risk for skin cancer.

18 Feb 2020

New compendium on cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle causing cardiac myocyte injury and myocardial dysfunction, which impair structural and functional ventricular filling or ejection of blood in the absence of other structural or vascular heart diseases.

18 Feb 2020

Statins could reduce ovarian cancer risk, study suggests

A genetic study has found evidence to suggest that women who take statins in the long term could be less likely to develop ovarian cancer, according to new research funded by Cancer Research UK published today (Tuesday 18 February).

18 Feb 2020

Natural sugars in breastmilk may influence early childhood growth

Human milk oligosaccharides found in breastmilk may influence a child's growth from infancy through early childhood, according to a study supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.

18 Feb 2020

Increased risk of uterine cancer linked to 24 gene variants

The risk of uterine endometrial cancer is increased by 24 gene variants that code for different cellular processes such as cell growth and death, gene regulation, and estrogen metabolism, according to a comprehensive review published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

17 Feb 2020

UT Southwestern scientists discover potential vulnerabilities in new coronavirus

UT Southwestern Medical Center data scientists analyzing genetic sequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus have identified potential vulnerabilities that could help in vaccine development and further study of the infectious disease now spreading worldwide.

17 Feb 2020

Research reveals new pathogenic mechanism for influenza NS1 protein

Influenza is a deadly virus, with about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths worldwide each year. When pandemics hit, the toll can soar: The Spanish flu of 1918 caused 40 million to 50 million deaths, the Asian flu of 1957 caused 2 million deaths, and the Hong Kong flu of 1968 caused 1 million deaths.

16 Feb 2020

Researchers identify key modifier in large genetic deletion linked to neurodevelopmental disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism, likely result from complex interactions that modify the effects of individual genes.

16 Feb 2020

Improving ability to predict autism risk with few drops of blood

Within days of birth, a few drops of blood are collected from every newborn in California--and across the United States -- which are then stored on filter paper and screened for dozens of genetic and congenital disorders, such as phenylketonuria, an inherited metabolic disorder that can result in intellectual disability, seizures, heart and behavioral problems.

13 Feb 2020

Molecular study defines the contributions of key genes, proteins to endometrial cancer

The most comprehensive molecular study of endometrial cancer to date has further defined the contributions of key genes and proteins to the disease, say its authors.

13 Feb 2020

Targeting one's internal clock could prevent or slow breast cancer progression

City of Hope scientists have identified an unlikely way to potentially prevent or slow the progression of aggressive breast cancer: target one's internal clock.

13 Feb 2020

Autophagy genes work against tumors in some ovarian cancers

Shedding light on a decades-old controversy, scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina and University of California at San Diego published findings in PLOS Genetics this month showing that autophagy or "self-eating" genes work against tumors in certain types of ovarian cancer.

13 Feb 2020