Humans Are Still Evolving Thanks to Microgenes
Humans are still evolving new genes, according to a study published in Cell Reports on December 20. As our lineage evolved, at least 155 human genes sprung up from DNA regions previously thought of as “junk,” including two human-specific genes that emerged since humans branched off from chimpanzees around 4 to 6 million years ago, the researchers […]
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Immunity-Linked Genes Expressed Differently in Brains of Autistic People
Genes involved in immune system function have atypical expression patterns in the brains of people with some neurological and psychiatric conditions, including autism, according to a new study of thousands of postmortem brain samples. Of the 1,275 immune genes studied, 765—60 percent—showed elevated or reduced expression in the brains of adults with one of six conditions: autism, […]
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Male and Female Stem Cells Derived from One Donor in Scientific First
Scientists have developed a new line of stem cells—all derived from the same person—that can be used to study sex differences without the confounds of interpersonal genetic differences. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which are cells taken from a person that are then reprogrammed to abandon their current roles and return to a stem […]
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