Genetics

Storing babies' blood samples pits privacy versus science

Two-day-old Ellie Bailey squirms in a hospital bassinet and cries as her tiny left heel is squeezed and then pricked with a needle to draw a blood sample. An Indianapolis hospital technician quickly saturates six circles ...

Genetics

Scientists discover important genetic source of human diversity

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report that humans have a surprisingly high number of genes in which one of two copies has been randomly silenced. They suggest that the phenomenon is ...

Genetics

NIH announces $240 million project to map human genomes

The federal government is funding a monumental project to map 200,000 human genomes in an effort to understand the genetic causes of common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, epilepsy and autism.

Medical research

Gene fuels age-related obesity and diabetes

Practically everyone gets fatter as they get older, but some people can blame their genes for the extra padding. Researchers have shown that two different mutations in a gene called ankyrin-B cause cells to suck up glucose ...

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