All tagged genes
After a decade of work and billions of dollars, the first draft of the human genome was assembled in 2001. But for all the claims that we had finally unlocked the secrets of human biology and were setting off into a new era of gene-driven medicine, there was one rather glaring issue with this genomic book of life: where were all the genes?
Actual genes make up less than 2% of all the DNA in the whole human genome. So what’s all the rest? Is it just junk? The exact quantity and function of all this non-coding DNA is still a hot topic in the world of genetics, and – like the exact number of genes – seems to depend on how you measure it and who you ask.
Many people - although not enough - know about Barbara McClintock’s work on maize genetics. But how many know about her first graduate student, Harriet Creighton?
Martha Chase’s ‘blender experiment’ has earned her a place in scientific history.
Did cultural attitudes towards women in science lead to Japanese researcher Tsuneko Okazaki missing out on a Nobel Prize?
A tale of two Lederberg: Esther’s work on viruses led to a Nobel for her husband, while she struggled to get tenure.
Mice are arguably the perfect model organism for human biology, putting on their little white furry lab coats to help researchers understand and treat a huge range of human ailments.
Forget your leggy blondes and busty brunettes, muscled hunks and sexy, skinny guys, the undisputed top model in the world of genetics is the tiny fruit fly.
Gregor Mendel discovered the principles of genetics. But it turns out that people are not peas… and even peas are not peas.
Exploring the story of the world’s first commercial GM food crop
The year is 1872. A young American doctor, George Huntington, has just started his career, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were general practitioners in the prosperous Hamptons area of New York. Graduating from Columbia University the year before, at the tender age of 21, George is keen to make an impression on the medical world.
It may sound strange, but a chicken virus has won three Nobel prizes. Not bad work for a tiny bag of genes loitering on the edge of life.
What’s stronger than steel, tougher than bulletproof Kevlar, can withstand temperatures ranging from 200 Celsius down to minus forty, can stretch up to five times its length without breaking, and is made by squeezing goop out of an arachnid’s backside? The answer is of course spider silk – one of the most remarkable substances produced by a living organism that we know of.
