Genetics

Genetics is the study of genes and heredity. Heredity is the passing of genetic information and traits (such as eye color and an increased chance of getting a certain disease) from parents to offspring.

How Do Genetic Mutations Cause Disease?

Mutations in genes can lead to genetic disorders, impacting health. Understand the types, causes, and implications of genetic mutations and disease.

Genetics and Gene Expression

What is Genetic Anticipation?

Genotype Versus Phenotype

Genetic Risk Associated with Social Anxiety

The Role of Alternative Splicing in Disease

The Importance of Genetic Counseling In Healthcare And Medicine

Genetic Inheritance

Von Recklinghausen Disease Expressivity

Applications of the Expanded Genetic Code

What is the Expanded Genetic Code?

Genetic Regulation of Fingers and Toes Development

See more featured articles »

What is Cytogenetics?

Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

START and STOP Codons

Genetics Research and Technology

History of Genetics

Genetic Change

Latest Genetics News and Research

Largest neuroimaging study of bulimia nervosa finds structural brain differences linked to diagnosis and binge-eating severity

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that individuals with bulimia nervosa have structural differences in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, as well as social and sensory processing, and that more frequent binge eating is associated with more widespread differences in brain structure, according to research published today in JAMA Psychiatry.

18 Sep 2026

New study defines rare TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder

Researchers have completed the largest study to date of TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder (TRND), a rare genetic condition caused by changes in the TCF7L2 gene, which plays an important role in brain development.

18 Sep 2026

Sex-specific biological clocks reveal how aging differs across the body in women and men

Researchers developed 38 sex-specific biological aging clocks across 15 organ systems, finding differences between females and males in genetic architecture, molecular signatures, disease associations, and mortality patterns. Brain aging clocks were linked to progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease in both sexes and to sex-dependent cognitive trajectories among solanezumab-treated A4 participants, while the authors stressed that sex-pooled and sex-interaction models remain complementary approaches.

17 Sep 2026

CGM reveals glucose patterns linked to cardiometabolic risk in adults without diabetes

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are the clinical gold standards for screening for blood sugar levels yet they provide only static snapshots that fail to reflect the highly dynamic and heterogeneous nature of metabolic impairment.

17 Sep 2026

Study identifies powerful inherited risk factor for lung cancer

A rare inherited mutation in the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene is associated with a 25-fold increased risk of lung cancer, according to a study by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and 23andMe Research Institute.

17 Sep 2026

Scalable machine learning model maps complex genomic enhancers across tissues

Understanding gene regulation may be the key to interpreting human disease genetics. Genes are regulated in part by stretches of DNA called enhancers, which define when, where, and how strongly each gene is turned on.

17 Sep 2026

Genetic risk for PTSD varies across different types of trauma

A groundbreaking study reveals that your genes may make you more vulnerable to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from certain types of trauma-particularly childhood neglect-than from others.

17 Sep 2026

Bulimia nervosa linked to structural differences in brain regions

16 Sep 2026

What children eat may leave a measurable signature in their blood

Researchers analyzed 236 blood metabolites in 421 children to examine metabolic signatures associated with three dietary patterns characterized by core foods, animal protein sources, or poor-quality fats and sugars. The results identified distinct, biologically plausible metabolite patterns across dietary exposures, although most individual associations did not survive multiple-testing correction and require validation in independent cohorts.

15 Sep 2026

Study identifies DNA loops as essential for tissue regeneration

After an injury, DNA not only alters its activity but also the way it is organized spatially within the cell nucleus.

15 Sep 2026

Study uncovers how interferon-alpha treats rare blood cancers

The biologic drug interferon-alpha can benefit patients with blood cancers called myeloproliferative neoplasms by forcing mutant blood stem cells to become shorter-lived white blood cells, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

15 Sep 2026

Lupus-linked genetic variants may boost antiviral immunity

Why do genetic variants that increase the risk of autoimmune disease remain so common in the population?

11 Sep 2026

Cancer treatments alter the landscape of genetic mutations in healthy body tissues

Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, give a growth advantage to cells with particular genetic changes in healthy tissue, new research finds.

11 Sep 2026

AI identifies hidden biological patterns to accurately diagnose migraines

AI can trawl vast amounts of health data which is not specifically related to migraines, but which can be used to identify people predisposed to the condition.

11 Sep 2026

Autistic people face a fourteen-year deficit in life expectancy

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States face a 14-year deficit in life expectancy, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and University of Colorado Anschutz.

10 Sep 2026

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease research

Marcel Nelen discusses his team’s early evaluation of a new workflow for rare disease genomics.

From Illumina, Inc. 10 Sep 2026

Gut microbiome may reveal inflammation and future disease risk better than age

Gut microbiota composition explained more variation than chronological age in nearly all inflammatory cytokines and most physiological measures examined, with specific microbial profiles linked to markedly different patterns of inflammation across adulthood. People with the Bacteroides 2 enterotype showed an inflammaging-like profile decades earlier than other groups and had a higher risk of subsequent disease, while a high-diversity microbiota profile was associated with lower inflammation and reduced disease incidence.

9 Sep 2026

Yourgene Health launches Insight DPYD assay (IVDR)

Yourgene Health (part of the Novacyt Group), an international molecular diagnostics company with a broad portfolio of integrated technologies and services, announces the commercial launch of its In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR)-certified Yourgene® Insight DPYD assay, expanding the Company's clinical genetics portfolio across regulated European markets.

From Yourgene Health 9 Sep 2026

New genomic language AI model excels in predicting the pathogenicity of genetic variants

More than two decades after scientists first sequenced the entire human genome - all 3 billion "letters," or base pairs, of DNA code - the meaning of much of this code remains a mystery.

9 Sep 2026

Caloric restriction reduces genetic mutations across the mouse genome

Mutations are changes in the molecular "letters" that make up DNA, the genetic blueprint for cells. Mutations build up with age in every cell when DNA is damaged or when cells make mistakes in fixing or copying it.

9 Sep 2026