Tag: Genes

  • Science & Tech

    A new view of DNA

    A new imaging technique, developed by Erez Lieberman-Aiden, a Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows, is giving scientists their first three-dimensional view of the human genome, one that is already shedding new light on a number of what Liberman-Aiden calls the “central mysteries of biology.”

  • Health

    In the genes, but which ones?

    A team of researchers, led Harvard Professor David I. Laibson and Christopher F. Chabris of Union College, has found that virtually all claims that intelligence is associated with specific genes are wrong.

  • Health

    Mapping mollusks

    Using genetic tools, researchers at Harvard and collaborating institutions have completed the most comprehensive evolutionary tree ever produced for mollusks. Described in the Nov. 2 issue of Nature, the work also serves as a proof-of-concept, demonstrating the power of genomic techniques to answer difficult evolutionary questions.

  • Health

    Editing the genome

    Treating the chromosome as both an editable and an evolvable template, researchers have demonstrated methods to rewrite a cell’s genome through powerful new tools for biotechnology, energy, and agriculture.

  • Science & Tech

    Ethics and genetics in the digital age

    Two panel discussions, organized by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, examined the “promise and perils” of creating digital repositories of genetic records and considered the policy implications of an individual’s right to access, control, and interpret his or her own genetic data.

  • Health

    Designing gene

    Taking advantage of the simple color pattern of deer mice, Harvard researchers showed that small changes in the activity of a single pigmentation gene in embryos generate big differences in adult color pattern.

  • Health

    Two studies prove value of iPS cells

    A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers, in collaboration with scientists at Columbia University, have demonstrated that many iPS cells (stem cells created by reprogramming adult cells) are the equal of human embryonic stem cells in creating human motor neurons, the cells destroyed in a number of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s.

  • Health

    A new target for Parkinson’s therapy

    In a new finding from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), researchers identify a link between Parkinson’s disease onset and dysfunctional activity of energy genes in the brain and identify a potential therapeutic target to reverse this energy gene failure.

  • Health

    Throwing a genetic switch

    Study finds that maternal genes in mice predominate in the developing brain, while paternal genes gain the upper hand in adulthood. Researchers also find 1,300 imprinted genes in the brain, far more than previously known.