Page URL: https://www.bionews.org.uk/matthewthomas
Matthew Thomas
Matthew Thomas is a Volunteer Writer at BioNews, having originally joined the publication under the auspices of its writing scheme. He is currently studying for a PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology under the supervision of Professor Ruth Mace at University College London (UCL), where his research uses computer simulations and experimental games to explore how, when, and why people cooperate. He previously studied Computer Science at the University of Southampton, and went on to obtain an MSc in Human Evolution and Behaviour from UCL. He has also worked in the charitable sector. He tweets as @matthewgthomas
BioNews Comment articles written by Matthew Thomas:
| So many genes, so close to home |
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| 12 May 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Is it possible to trace your DNA back through time, up to a millennium ago, to find a single home from which your ancestors came?... [Read More] |
| Relative Risk: Breast Cancer and Genetics |
| 7 April 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| At the launch of their 'Breast Cancer: Chances, Choices and Genetics' project, a panel of experts and a lively audience grappled with the difficult topic of cancer genetics... [Read More] |
BioNews Review articles written by Matthew Thomas:
| Podcast Review: Naked Genetics – Testing, testing |
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| 6 March 2017 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Dr Kat Arney leads a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion of genetic testing – from testing for cancer genes to whether your child's DNA can predict their future sporting ability... [Read More] |
| Podcast Review: Big Unknowns – can we stop ageing? |
| 16 January 2017 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Is ageing inevitable, or can it be stopped? The Guardian Science Weekly podcast explored the latest thinking in the science of ageing... [Read More] |
| Video Review: The DNA Journey |
| 31 October 2016 - by Matthew Thomas |
| A recent viral advertising campaign about the power of genetic ancestry testing tugs at the heart strings. But the science it invokes may not be all it's purported to be... [Read More] |
| Podcast Review: Should we genetically screen four-year-olds? |
| 10 August 2015 - by Matthew Thomas |
| The Guardian's science editor Ian Sample discusses research by Professor Robert Plomin on the importance of genes in academic achievement, and the consequences of this research for education policy... [Read More] |
| Radio Review: The Business of Genetic Ancestry |
| 8 June 2015 - by Matthew Thomas |
| 'Genetics is messy and history is foggy. We are a species that is mobile and horny.' That is how Adam Rutherford quite accurately sums up the quest for understanding the human story in his documentary... [Read More] |
| Event Review: Crick Lecture 2014 - 'Genetic control and the mammalian radiation' |
| 10 November 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| You and all the whales, rhinos and bats owe your lives to a tiny shrew... [Read More] |
| Radio Review: The Moral Maze - Genetics and Education |
| 4 November 2013 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Underlying the genetics of intelligence debate is our strong attachment to the idea of 'potential' and freedom to fulfil it. This blank slate approach to achievement is seductive, but is it based in fact?... [Read More] |
| Radio Review: The Life Scientific - Linda Partridge |
| 3 June 2013 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Nothing is certain, the old saying goes, except death and taxes. Professor Dame Linda Partridge is working on the former... [Read More] |
| TV Review: Shrinking My 17 Stone Legs |
| 18 March 2013 - by Matthew Thomas |
| The stump of Mandy's amputated left leg is one metre in circumference, the size of an old vinyl record. Mandy Sellars has a rare genetic condition that meant her legs continued to grow after the rest of her body stopped... [Read More] |
BioNews News articles written by Matthew Thomas:
| Little exercise and sedentary lifestyle ages DNA |
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| 23 January 2017 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Older women who take little exercise and live a more sedentary lifestyle have disproportionately older DNA, researchers have found... [Read More] |
| Neanderthal genes are being purged from our DNA |
| 14 November 2016 - by Matthew Thomas |
| The process of natural selection has removed the majority of Neanderthal DNA from the modern human genome, leaving behind a handful of beneficial genes, two recent studies have suggested... [Read More] |
| Microbiome 'fingerprints' could identify individuals |
| 18 May 2015 - by Matthew Thomas |
| The communities of microbes living in and on the human body – known as the microbiome – differ enough between people that researchers can use them to tell one person from another in a population of hundreds... [Read More] |
| Australian federal court throws out appeal on gene patenting |
| 8 September 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Gene sequences isolated from the human body are patentable, according to a ruling by the Australian federal court... [Read More] |
| Gene from extinct species allows Tibetans to live at high altitude |
| 7 July 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Tibetan people inherited a genetic variant from an extinct subspecies of humans that helps them survive on the 'roof of the world'... [Read More] |
| Genetic ancestry test claims to find 'village where your DNA was formed' |
| 6 May 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Geneticists claim to have developed a way of finding where in the world a person's DNA originated... [Read More] |
| Male chromosome not dying out, say researchers |
| 13 January 2014 - by Matthew Thomas |
| The human Y chromosome may have some use, after all. Experts previously thought that the chromosome containing 'male' genes was shrinking to the point of extinction... [Read More] |
| Genetics and pesticide exposure 'double hit' might underlie Parkinson's for some |
| 2 December 2013 - by Matthew Thomas |
| People with a particular genetic mutation may face greater risks of developing Parkinson's disease if exposed to certain pesticides, according to scientists... [Read More] |
| Only one in five 'hospital superbug' cases caught in hospital, sequencing study reveals |
| 30 September 2013 - by Matthew Thomas |
| DNA sequencing of Clostridium difficile samples reveals that the dangerous bacteria, which was previously predominantly transmitted in hospital, is now mostly being caught outside... [Read More] |
| Ageing process determined by mum's DNA |
| 27 August 2013 - by Matthew Thomas |
| Genetic mutations passed on from mothers may speed up the ageing process and shorten life expectancy, according to a study on mice... [Read More] |