A unique viral strain deemed Pandoravirus was discovered that spans a staggering 1 µm in diameter, beating the previous record holder by two-fold. The viral giant also possesses the largest viral genome ever discovered, most of which cannot be traced back to any of the existing domains of life. Read more

A thrilling report has surfaced about the first baby being born as a result of a controversial fertilization technique, the spindle nuclear transfer. The procedure incorporates DNA from three “biological parents” to serve as the embryo’s genomic base, and is used to prevent mitochondrial diseases in infants. Read more

It is a popular belief that MRSA is the most resistant bug around. But is it really? According to the Guinness Book of Records the honor of the most defiant bacteria belongs to the little-known Deinococcus radiodurans, a microbe so tough the scientific community dubbed it “Conan the Bacterium”. Read more

Ever wondered why we sometimes feel an unusually strong attraction towards certain members of the opposite sex? It turns out the butterflies in our stomachs could actually be caused by differences in our genetic make-up. Read more

It has long been said that “best things come in small packages” and recent scientific findings show a great example of that. People that suffer from an incredibly rare form of dwarfism called Laron syndrome seem to be completely immune to cancer, diabetes and other illnesses. Read more

There are people living among us, with capabilities we could easily call superpowers, and in most cases, they are not even aware of it. It turns out a tiny percentage of women actually develop a genetic condition called “tetrachromacy“, enabling them to see the world in hundred times more colors than the rest of us. Read more

A thrilling new approach has been developed for targeted gene therapy that brought a cloud of excitement over the scientific community. You might have guessed it – the delivery of vaporized gene vectors to battle cystic fibrosis. Read more

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act? What exactly is that? To make the story short, this makes the use of people’s genetic information in the workplace and health insurance decisions illegal. It is an important aspect in the age of emerging personalised genetic tests and analyses.

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Humans have many phenotypic variations in eye color which is determined by multiple genes. So far, up to 16 genes have been associated with eye color inheritance. However, scientists from the Institute of Forensic Genetics at the University of Copenhagen discovered that the reason for blue eyes mainly lies in two genes: OCA2 and HERC2. This way they have shown that the earlier belief that blue eye color is a simple recessive trait is incorrect.

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Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are some forms of cancer which can be cured relatively well with known and established drugs and surgery. However, not all forms of cancer response to these approaches.

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