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In this line of work, we frequently have occasion to make use of articles from a variety of scientific journals when researching topics of interest. One of my favorite sources over the years has been the journal Nature, which covers a wide variety of science topics. Science journals can be of value, at least in part because they tend to cut through all of the partisan opinions and brouhaha and rely on actual data... or at least they used to. These days, however, it seems as if some science journals are getting a bit less "sciency" and dipping a toe...

A biology professor at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio, Texas claimed that he was fired after he taught a lesson explaining that sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes.The professor, Johnson Varkey, claimed that he was let go from the college for “religious preaching” in his class. Over the course of 20 years, Varkey taught human anatomy and physiology to more than 1,500 students, according to the New York Post. During a lesson on the human reproductive system on Nov. 28, 2022, Varkey made remarks about how X and Y chromosomes determine a person’s sex. Four students reportedly...

As men age, some of their cells lose the very thing that makes them biological males—the Y chromosome—and this loss hampers the body's ability to fight cancer, according to research. The study found that loss of the Y chromosome helps cancer cells evade the body's immune system. This common impact of the aging process in men results in aggressive bladder cancer, but somehow also renders the disease more vulnerable—and responsive—to a standard treatment called immune checkpoint inhibitors. In humans, each cell normally has one pair of sex chromosomes; men have one X and one Y chromosome, while women have two...

A group of international researchers has uncovered evidence of a super rare genetic condition that gives men an extra X chromosome, reporting the oldest clinical case of Klinefelter Syndrome to date.The evidence comes from a 1,000-year-old skeleton from Portugal.Klinefelter Syndrome is a rare genetic condition where individuals are born with an extra copy of the X chromosome, occurring in approximately one in 1,000 genetic-male births...The team began by analysing genetic information obtained from a skeleton found in northeastern Portugal that had been radiocarbon dated to the 11th century by researchers from the University of Coimbra in Portugal...The researchers say the...

The loss of the male sex chromosome as many men age causes the heart muscle to scar and can lead to deadly heart failure, new research shows. The finding may help explain why men die, on average, several years younger than women. Kenneth Walsh, Ph.D., says the new discovery suggests that men who suffer Y chromosome loss—estimated to include 40% of 70-year-olds—may particularly benefit from an existing drug that targets dangerous tissue scarring. The drug, he suspects, may help counteract the harmful effects of the chromosome loss—effects that may manifest not just in the heart but in other parts of...

NIH Researchers Have Generated the First Complete X Chromosome Sequence...The results, published today (July 14, 2020) in the journal Nature, show that generating a precise, base-by-base sequence of a human chromosome is now possible, and will enable researchers to produce a complete sequence of the human genome.

For at least the last 10 million years every yeast cell of the sort used to make beer or bread has had 16 chromosomes. But now—thanks to CRISPR technology and some DNA tinkerers in China—there are living yeast with just one. Genome organizer: We humans have our genes arranged on 46 chromosomes, yeast use 16, and there’s even a fern plant with 1260 of them. That’s just the way it is. And no one is quite sure why. The big one: Do we really need so many chromosomes? That’s what Zhogjun Qin and colleagues at the Key Laboratory of Synthetic...

Aristotle may have been more on the money than he realised in saying man is a political animal, according to research published Wednesday linking genes with liberal or conservative leanings. Or, to be precise, a specific variant of one gene that would seem to exert greater sway over women than men. Working with 1771 university students of Han Chinese origin in Singapore, researchers compared answers to surveys—including one tailored to hot-button issues in the city-state—with the presence of a permutation of the DRD4 gene. DRD4 is one of several genes that determines the way dopamine—a crucial neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger—is...

SCIENTISTS have created the first man-made chromosome for a complex-celled organism — a feat hailed as a big step towards acquiring the controversial ability to redesign plants or animals. A synthetic chromosome was inserted into a brewer’s yeast cell, which functioned as normal — the key test of success, the international team has reported in the journal Science. “Our research moves the needle in synthetic biology from theory to reality,” said Jef Boeke, director of the New York University’s Institute for Systems Genetics, who was a member of the research team. :snip: “It is the most extensively altered chromosome ever...

Jawanda Mast helps her daughter Rachel, 14, write thank you notes Rachel has Downs Syndrome. In the 14 years since her daughter, Rachel, was born with Down syndrome, Jawanda Mast has always been clear that she’d change the condition if she could. “I couldn’t love her more, but I would give almost anything to take away that extra chromosome,” the Olathe, Kansas, mom wrote on her blog. “While I may know she’s perfect, the world doesn’t.” But when Massachusetts scientists announced recently that they’ve found a way to silence the chromosome that causes trisomy 21, also known as Down...

People with Down's syndrome are at greater risk of heart defects, leukaemia and early-onset dementia. Photograph: Getty Images Scientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down's syndrome – albeit in isolated cells – raising the prospect of a radical therapy for the disorder. In an elegant series of experiments, US researchers took cells from people with Down's and silenced the extra chromosome that causes the condition. A treatment based on the work remains a distant hope, but scientists in the field said the feat was the first major step towards a "chromosome therapy" for Down's syndrome....

Modern Y-Chromosome Variation Surpasses Archaic Humans by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D. * The human Y-chromosome has been a sore point among secular scientists in recent years because of its many anti-evolutionary surprises. Adding to the Darwinian grief, is yet one more shocking Y-chromosome study that more clearly illustrates the boundaries of human genetic diversity. Much controversy has brewed during the past few years over the genomic sequences of what have been termed "archaic" humans. This so-called "ancient DNA" was extracted from bone fragments of "Neandertal" and "Denisovan" specimens and then sequenced, providing draft blue prints of these respective genomes.1, 2 While...

Next time you're about to slam somebody for carrying on like a Neanderthal, think twice: You might be hitting close to home. A new study published in the Molecular Biology and Evolution reports that people of non-African heritage carry a chromosome which originates from Neanderthals, offering evidence that the two populations interbred at a certain point in history.

This could be reality, according to Bryan Sykes, an eminent professor of genetics at Oxford University and author of "Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men."

Environment can change the way our genes work Environmental factors such as stress and diet could be affecting the genes of future generations leading to increased rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.A study of people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the 9/11 attacks in New York made a striking discovery. The patients included mothers who were pregnant on 9/11 and found altered levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood of their babies. This effect was most pronounced for mothers who were in the third trimester of pregnancy suggesting events in the womb might be responsible....

LONDON: Controversial US scientist Craig Venter claimed to have constructed a synthetic chromosome using chemicals made from the laboratory, a step towards the creation of first new artificial life form on Earth. "This landmark will be a very important philosophical step in the history of our species. We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before," sources reported on Saturday, quoting Venter as saying. He is expected to announce the discovery -- a feat of bio-engineering never previously achieved -- within weeks. According...

Coming to a Bad End: Lost chromosome tips linked to heart problems Nathan Seppa The prime risk factors for heart disease are well known—obesity, smoking, elevated cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Yet many people with these warning signs develop heart problems, while others don't. This observation indicates that yet-unrecognized factors must also influence risk. A new study finds that the sequence-repeating sections of DNA called telomeres, which protect the ends of chromosomes, might play a role. Middle-aged men with long telomeres are only half as likely to develop heart disease as are men of the same age with short telomeres,...

Excerpt - LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have reached a landmark point in one of the world's most important scientific projects by sequencing the last chromosome in the Human Genome, the so-called "book of life." Chromosome 1 contains nearly twice as many genes as the average chromosome and makes up eight percent of the human genetic code. It is packed with 3,141 genes and linked to 350 illnesses including cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. "This achievement effectively closes the book on an important volume of the Human Genome Project," said Dr Simon Gregory who headed the sequencing project at the Sanger...

Every species seems to come and go. Some last longer than others, but nothing lasts forever. Humans are a relatively recent phenomenon, jumping out of trees and striding across the land around 200 000 years ago. Will we persist for many millions of years to come, or are we headed for an evolutionary makeover, or even extinction? According to Reinhard Stindl, of the Institute of Medical Biology in Vienna, the answer to this question could lie at the tips of our chromosomes. In a controversial new theory he suggests that all eukaryotic species (everything except bacteria and algae) have an...