By Rami Major Telomere (noun. /TEE-luh-mere/) What does it mean? Our DNA is packaged and tightly wrapped up in chromosomes. To prevent our chromosomes from unraveling and to protect DNA from damage, chromosomes are capped by telomeres. Telomeres consists of repetitive DNA sequences that match up with special proteins. How do I use it in […]
By Madison Williams Do you ever wonder how scientists can predict that parents will pass a disease on to their children? Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, began this process of understanding genetic traits in the 1800s using pea plants. In this article, you will learn about his life and what led him to making […]
Escrito y traducido por Regina Fernandez Imagina que acabas de terminar de comer un delicioso Bojangles’ famous chicken ‘n biscuits. Un amigo se sienta enseguida de ti y te ofrece un postre. El postre es un pedazo grande de pastel de chocolate servido con dos bolas de nieve de vainilla. ¡Se ve delicioso! Pero te […]
By Regina Fernandez Imagine you just finished eating some delicious Bojangles’ famous chicken ‘n biscuits. Your friend sits next to you and offers a big piece of chocolate cake with two scoops of vanilla ice cream for dessert. Dessert looks delicious!! But you feel full and you don’t feel like eating anymore food. So, you […]
By Anastacia Wienecke Before we jump into our discussion of hachimoji DNA, let’s talk a little bit about proteins. Did you know that you are made up of proteins? Right this second, the proteins in your body are helping you digest food, send oxygen from your lungs to your muscles, and build tissues. Your body […]
By Riya Gohil You probably think mosquitoes are a nuisance and wish they didn’t exist, but is wiping out whole mosquito populations really a good idea? Earlier this summer, Oxitec, a biotech company, received approval from the EPA to release genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida and Texas. Oxitec aims to reduce disease carrying mosquitoes that cause […]
By Rami Major Commercial DNA testing kits are becoming increasingly more popular. Although they can be fun windows into our past, they can also have serious repercussions related to questions of privacy, crime, and health. Your DNA contains clues called markers, which are short sequences of your DNA that scientists have associated with different regions […]
By Emma Goldberg Everyone has a favorite color: I like blue, my mom likes purple, my brother likes red and one very special manta ray in the Great Barrier Reef loves neon pink! In fact, this manta ray, named Inspector Clouseau after the well known inspector from the Pink Panther, loves neon pink so much […]
By Rachel Cherney Immortality is a trait only possible in science fiction and fantasy. However, with scientific and medical advancements, humans are able to live well past 100 years, the oldest undisputed* human to live was Sarah Knauss of the United States who died at 119 years, 97 days old. *There was a woman who […]
By Julia DiFiore Much like Fortnite today, Sonic the Hedgehog was everywhere in the early 1990s – from video games to comics and TV shows. What his creators probably didn’t expect was that Sonic would one day be part of a major scientific discovery – the inspiration for the name of a newly discovered gene. […]
By Rachel Cherney While a baby is developing, it is by default, female. However, with the presence of the Y sex chromosome, the developing female will be overridden and instead develop a male reproductive system, thus becoming male. Males have an X and a Y sex chromosome, whereas females have two X chromosomes. Millions of […]
By Allyson Roberts While watching the news, reading the paper, or even checking your favorite social media sites, occasionally we stumble across stories about discoveries scientists have made related to how genes contribute to obesity, or how scientists have discovered a cure for Ebola virus. These findings are important for human health, but if you […]
As many of us just celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish, we thought it would be a good time to revisit an Irish legend and its unexpected connection to modern day genetics. Originally published on October 27, 2016. By Michelle Engle Genetics is usually advertised as a science that impacts the future – […]
By Jennifer Schiller When I was young, there was this one kid in my class who had all the colors of crayons. The rest of us would have the basics, but she had a pack of 256, with colors like “burnt umber” and “razzmatazz”. The rest of us would ooh and aah and beg to […]
By Matt Niederhuber There’s a good chance you’ve heard about DNA testing before, probably on a crime TV show or on the news. Sometimes, DNA testing is how the police identify suspects, but it has also helped prove the innocence of many people who have been falsely imprisoned. I bring up DNA testing because I […]
By Jennifer Schiller Close your eyes and remember your breakfast. How did it feel? Was it slimy scrambled eggs? Was it crunchy cereal? Or, like the man after which Richard E. Cytowic’s non-fiction book The Man Who Tasted Shapes is titled, did it feel pointy in your hands from the pepper? Was this last question […]
By Eva Vitucci The human body is composed of trillions of cells – these cells make up your skin, hair, lungs, and even your toenails. Inside each of these cells are specialized instructions that are essential for life, otherwise known as deoxyribonucleic acid, or your DNA. But what exactly is DNA? Quite simply, your DNA […]
By Michelle Engle We inherit ½ of our DNA from our mothers, but that’s not the only thing we inherit from them. Mitochondria are organelles in the cell that are responsible for making energy used to create proteins and respond to the environment. Mitochondria are passed from mother to baby upon fertilization of the egg. […]
By Lauriel Earley If you’ve ever been to the dentist, you’ll know that most of your time there is spent having plaque cleaned off your teeth. Have you ever given much thought as to what plaque is? If not, then check out here to be a little grossed out. Plaque is a ‘biofilm’, which means […]
By Kelsey Gray Hearts have long been associated with the month of February. Hallmark Cards began producing Valentine’s Day cards featuring the heart in the early 1900s. The first American Heart Month was declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson and took place in February 1964. In 2003, the first National Wear Red Day was held […]
By Yitong Li When it comes to autism, many people tend to picture a somewhat non-responsive kid absorbed in arranging puzzles in a particular way. However, autism is far more than that. Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the name assigned to a group of complex disorders that affect brain development. Some common symptoms […]
By Michelle Engle Some non-believers among you may say that Rudolph is nothing more than a fairy tale, that it’s impossible for a reindeer to have a glowing red nose. To those of you, I have this to say: it’s not magic, it’s science! Allow me to present evidence to support my hypothesis. Fluorescent, or […]
By Lauriel Earley You’ve probably already heard that you may have more bacterial cells than human cells in your body*, but did you know that you’re also part virus? About 5-8% of your genome is from viruses that integrated into the DNA of your ancestors. These pieces of virus that are in your genome are called […]
By Michelle Engle Genetics is usually advertised as a science that impacts the future – the future of healthcare, the future of cancer therapy, etc. But it’s also the biological science that most closely links us to the past, through the DNA passed down from our ancestors. In Ireland, where the past is filled with […]
By Christina Marvin Crime dramas such as NCIS and Law and Order engross us with images of law enforcement blasting down city streets in pursuit of suspects, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Bringing criminals to justice often relies on the prompt ability to secure a crime scene and interview suspects. But what happens when criminals get away […]
By Sarah Marks Edited by Kelsey Gray and Sam Stadmiller The internet is full of cats. They’re cute, they’re aloof, and apparently really bad at spelling. Some of the most recognizable cats on the internet, after Grumpy Cat, are Siamese cats. Their distinct coloring (dark ears, face, feet, and tail on a pale body), called point coloration, […]