Articles about 'genetics'

A Cambridge scientist has played a leading role in sequencing Ludwig van Beethoven’s genome, revealing clues to the composer’s health and family history.

A citizens’ jury of individuals whose lives have been affected by hereditary disease has voted in favour of asking the UK government to consider changing the law to allow genome editing of human embryos to treat serious genetic conditions.

A survey of over 2,000 British adults finds that trust in genetics is high and went up significantly during the pandemic. It also finds that there is a hunger for more coverage of genetics.

A new study proves that a single introduction of rabbits shipped from England in 1859 caused the infamous invasion and argues that wild genetic traits gave these animals a devastating advantage over earlier arrivals.

An ambitious new research project, Spectrum 10K, launches today and will recruit 10,000 autistic individuals, as well as their relatives, living in the UK.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified rare genetic variants – carried by one in 3,000 people – that have a larger impact on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes than any previously identified genetic effect.

New research has found that one in every 340 people might carry a mutation in a single gene that makes them more likely to have a greater weight from early childhood and, by 18 years of age, they could be up to 30 pounds heavier with the excess weight likely to be mostly fat. 

Mitochondria -  the ‘batteries’ that power our cells – play an unexpected role in common diseases such as type 2 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, concludes a study of over 350,000 people conducted by the University of Cambridge.

DNA from tissue biopsies taken from patients with Barrett’s oesophagus – a risk factor for oesophageal cancer – could show which patients are most likely to develop the disease eight years before diagnosis, suggests a study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).

Four-stranded DNA structures – known as G-quadruplexes – have been shown to play a role in certain types of breast cancer for the first time, providing a potential new target for personalised medicine, say scientists at the University of Cambridge.