Feb 21
Schizophrenia has been linked to genetic variants that are common to everyone. The risk factors may reach a tipping a point that overwhelm our ability to compensate. A new research method found that: . . . 23% of liability for the brain disorder could be traced back to a set of variations, most of which …
Nov 16
pic nicked from here It seems that we’ve found a variety of causes of obesity. Viruses, glands, and big bones. Just about everything is to blame except eating too much and not moving enough. You can add the FTO gene (nicknamed the greediness gene) to this ever-growing list of things that cause people surrounded by an …
Sep 21
Who says scientists don’t like to have fun? Einstein was a terrible violinist and Hawking has been known to release the brakes on his wheelchair and go flying down the hills of San Francisco like a madman. Feynman plays the bongos and Dawkins pokes religious people. Some have even been drunks or drug addicts. Now …
Jul 13
Scientists have found a way to turn female mice into lesbians. And it’s not by sending them on a date with me. Deleting the, ahem, FucM gene, which limits the brain’s production of estrogen, caused these mice “ to reject the advances of their male counterparts and attempt to mate with fellow females.” In mice, estrogen masculinizes the brain …
May 20
Scientists have created artificial life. It’s just a simple little thing: A living cell powered by man-made DNA and constructed in a laboratory but it’s a rather large step towards . . . Well, opinion is mixed on that one. It ranges between UTOPIA! and IT’LL KILL US ALL! I don’t think it’s terribly important. …
