Medical research

'Benign' malaria key driver of human evolution in Asia-Pacific

The malaria species rampant in the Asia-Pacific region has been a significant driver of evolution of the human genome, a new study has shown. An international team of researchers has shown that Plasmodium vivax malaria, the ...

HIV & AIDS

Deeper view of HIV reveals impact of early mutations

Mutations in HIV that develop during the first few weeks of infection may play a critical role in undermining a successful early immune response, a finding that reveals the importance of vaccines targeting regions of the ...

Health

What our twice-a-year shifts to the clock do to the body

In most places across the United States, Daylight Saving Time weekend is the time to shuffle around the house, fiddling with microwave and alarm clock displays. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, ...

Genetics

Brain mechanism underlying evolution of anxiety

Monoamine neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine play important roles in our cognitive and emotional functions. Their evolutionary origins date back to metazoans, and while the function of related genes is strongly ...

Genetics

Using modern human genetics to study ancient phenomena

We humans are obsessed with determining our origins, hoping to reveal a little of "who we are" in the process. It is relatively simple to trace one's genealogy back a few generations, and there are many companies and products ...

Diabetes

Why is type 2 diabetes an increasing problem?

Contrary to a common belief, researchers have shown that genetic regions associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes were unlikely to have been beneficial to people at stages through human evolution.

Genetics

Two studies reveal genetic variation driving human evolution

A pair of studies published by Cell Press on February 14th in the journal Cell sheds new light on genetic variation that may have played a key role in human evolution. The study researchers used an animal model to study a ...

Genetics

Most mutations come from dad

Humans inherit more than three times as many mutations from their fathers as from their mothers, and mutation rates increase with the father's age but not the mother's, researchers have found in the largest study of human ...

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