Single gene can make you appear more trustworthy

Variations in a single gene may have considerable impact on whether people come across as trustworthy and kind, scientists say. Furthermore, the snap judgments we make about people's kindness after only a brief contact may accurately correspond to whether or not they possess the more 'social' gene variant...[Read More]

Genetic regions linked to schizophrenia by two Chinese studies

Two Chinese genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified genomic regions linked to the incidence of schizophrenia. The papers, published in Nature, are some of the first GWAS to look at Chinese as opposed to Western populations....[Read More]

TV Review: Horizon - Are You Good or Evil?

Good and evil have always been moral perspectives, but this edition of BBC One's science programme Horizon has pulled them firmly into the scientific realm, with an analysis of the science behind good and evil....[Read More]

Health disparities in the age of personalised medicine?

The intersection of racial categories and emerging genetic technology is bound to be vexed given - for example - the long history of eugenics and segregation in the United States. Although the topic has received little attention among the UK general public, pharmaceutical companies on both sides of the Atlantic are investing huge amounts of research and development into individually tailored drugs - pharmacogenetics....[Read More]

Human history is written in everyone's genome

Two scientists claim to have pushed the boundaries of what can be learned about the ancestral history of the human race from one person's genome. Dr Richard Durbin and Dr Heng Li from the UK's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge used information from the genomes of only seven individuals...[Read More]

Study suggests gene linked to credit card debt

Our genetic make-up may influence the likelihood of running into debt, UK and US researchers have found, according to the LSE research magazine....[Read More]

Gene-ecology interactions and psychological disorders

The models emerging from behavioural biology are increasingly sophisticated. They do not undermine the quest for candidate genes, but rather augment our understanding of why those genes might persist in populations and be differentially expressed across circumstances....[Read More]

Cholesterol control gene could provide dementia protection

American scientists have found that a genetic variation could be associated with slower memory decline and a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The preliminary findings shed light on processes in the brain that could contribute to memory loss and dementia. The work was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week....[Read More]

TV Review: Is It Better to Be Mixed Race?

Channel 4, Monday 2 November 2009...[Read More]

Evidence for a genetic link to lung cancer

Scientists have found evidence that there is a strong genetic link to lung cancer. The findings, from three teams in Iceland, France and the US, will help understanding of the genetic basis of the disease and the role tobacco plays in its development. Lung cancer is the...[Read More]

Two new genes linked to Multiple Sclerosis

After more than three decades of dead-ends and dismay for researchers and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) sufferers alike, two new genes have finally been identified that are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of MS: the most common neurological disease affecting young adults. Back in 1972, the...[Read More]

Premature birth gene identified

A gene variant more common in black women than those of European descent has been identified as contributing to increased risk of premature birth. Rates of premature birth are two to three times higher amongst black women than other racial groups, with an increased risk of 'premature...[Read More]