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Do Epigenetic Changes Influence Evolution?

Katarina Zimmer | Nov 1, 2022 | 10+ min read

Evidence is mounting that epigenetic marks on DNA can influence future generations in a variety of ways. But how such phenomena might affect large-scale evolutionary processes is hotly debated.

Pink- and purple-stained cells clustered into glands

Phenotypic Variation in Cancer Cells Often Not Due to Mutations

Jef Akst | Oct 26, 2022 | 3 min read

Most differences in gene expression among cells within a tumor are likely due to environment or noise, a study suggests.

The Mosaic Brain

Sejal Davla, PhD | 1 min read

How somatic mutations cause brain diseases

Illustration of people dying from the Black Death

Genes that Aided Black Death Survival Linked to Autoimmunity

Jef Akst | Oct 20, 2022 | 2 min read

A new study points to repercussions of the Medieval pandemic for the health of modern humans.

a black wolf and a gray wolf follow a third gray wolf, whose head is tilted back to watch, as they trot through a snowy background, with light colored, barren trees in the background.

Black and Gray Wolf Pairings Stem Disease, Stabilize Population: Study

Katherine Irving | Oct 20, 2022 | 4 min read

The black fur allele has fitness costs but also confers higher immunity against canine distemper virus, making mix-and-match mating key to population survival.

The Scientist Speaks Ep. 16 - At the Breaking Point: Mitochondrial Deletions and the Brain

The Scientist’s Creative Services Team | 1 min read

Researchers characterize large mitochondrial deletions to understand their implications in neurological disorders.

US Agency to Look into Project on Modified Coronavirus

Catherine Offord | Oct 18, 2022 | 3 min read

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was not aware that the work involved a chimeric strain of SARS-CoV-2, STAT reports.

Illustration of pink and blue DNA molecules.

Historic Adaptations May Now Make Us Susceptible to Disease

Dan Robitzski | Sep 16, 2022 | 5 min read

Researchers made the find using an algorithm that purportedly distinguishes between mutations that were selected for and those that came along for the ride by coincidence, a feat that has long eluded scientists.

Mining Coding Regions with Whole-Exome Sequencing

The Scientist’s Creative Services Team | 1 min read

Multiple next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques offer insights into health and disease.

Illustration of a human and Neanderthal skull side by side.

Mutation Linked to Difference Between Human and Neanderthal Brains

Dan Robitzski | Sep 9, 2022 | 5 min read

A single amino acid substitution in a protein causes increased neuron production in the frontal lobes of humans compared to Neanderthals—a tiny difference that could have given our species a cognitive edge, researchers say.

Brown coral in shallow water branching upward with blue fish in front.

Corals Upend Longstanding Idea About Genetic Inheritance

Natalia Mesa, PhD | Sep 1, 2022 | 4 min read

Most animals can’t pass on mutations that arise spontaneously throughout their lives—but Elkhorn corals can.

To flag neurons that have experienced genotoxic stress, researchers developed an in vivo sensor using an adeno-associated viral vector, called PRISM. Because a cell’s DNA damage response (DDR)—which activates in response to stressors such as environmental toxins or the buildup of misfolded proteins—also responds to invading pathogens, PRISM has an easier time transfecting cells whose damage response mechanisms are preoccupied with existing DNA damage. Once inside, the virus hijacks the neuron’s DNA replication machinery, which reverts an engineered frameshift mutation in the virus and thereby prompts the production of a fluorescent protein that can be observed via microscopy.

Infographic: DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity

Amanda Heidt | Aug 15, 2022 | 2 min read

A new genetic sensor called PRISM makes use of a host cell’s DNA replication machinery to trigger fluorescence in neurons with damaged DNA.

DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity

Amanda Heidt | Aug 15, 2022 | 3 min read

A new tool called PRISM draws on virus-host interactions and a DNA repair pathway to help researchers visualize how cellular stress may contribute to neurodegenerative disease.

Artist’s rendition of a blue-green DNA double helix, viewed lengthwise from within one end.

Stem Cell Lines Riddled With Undetected Mutations

Dan Robitzski | Aug 12, 2022 | 4 min read

Most of the human induced pluripotent stem cells stored at major cell line repositories and used in research harbor thousands of DNA errors, a study finds, highlighting the need for improved quality control measures.

Artist’s rendition of multiple <em>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</em>, the bacteria that causes gonorrhea, depicted as two spheres stuck together, each covered in tendrils.

Gonorrhea-Blocking Mutation Also Protects Against Alzheimer’s: Study

Holly Barker, PhD | Aug 5, 2022 | 4 min read

Research traces the evolution of a gene variant that reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, finding that it originally evolved in response to infectious bacteria.

Genetic Mutations Can Be Benign or Cancerous—a New Method to Differentiate Between Them Could Lead to Better Treatments

Ryan Layer, The Conversation | May 27, 2022 | 5 min read

Tumors contain thousands of genetic changes, but only a few are actually cancer-causing. A quicker way to identify these driver mutations could lead to more targeted cancer treatments.

Illustration of light blue speckled DNA helix on a dark background

Study Nearly Doubles Known Cancer-Linked Mutational Signatures

Jef Akst | Apr 22, 2022 | 2 min read

Analyzing the whole genome sequences of more than 18,000 tumors, researchers catalog nearly 60 new patterns of mutations that could inform cancer treatment.

Microscopy image showing patches of magenta and green

Three Autism-Linked Genes Converge on Tweaks to Cells’ Timing

Angie Voyles Askham, Spectrum | Feb 3, 2022 | 3 min read

The genes are involved in pacing the development of inhibitory and excitatory neurons. An imbalance in these two types of signaling is thought to play a role in autism.

A close-up image of pale green seeds inside of a green capsule taken by a scanning electron microscope

Essential Genes Protected from Mutations

Dan Robitzski | Jan 25, 2022 | 6 min read

Epigenetic structures appear to reduce the rate of changes in genes essential for survival and reproduction, a study finds, challenging the notion that mutations are evenly distributed throughout the genome prior to selection.