Twin studies have proven invaluable for teasing out the effects of both genetics and the environment on human biology. In a study published April 2 in Cell Reports, researchers studied pairs of twins to look at how the interplay of genetics and environment affect cognitive processing—the way that people think. They found that some cognitive abilities appear to be regulated more by environmental factors than by genetics ..read more

Some genes are known to drive cancer, and astonishing new research shows why: Mutations in the noncoding regions become functional, altering the abundance of messenger RNA, or mRNA, and potentially facilitating cell proliferation. Even more surprising, the number of mutations in these regions can predict patient survival time for certain types of cancer ..read more

Two siblings who have the only known mutations in a key gene anywhere in the world have helped scientists gain new insights that could help progress the search for new treatments in type 1 diabetes ..read more

A multi-institutional team of geneticists and genomic and genotyping specialists in Japan has sequenced the genomes of thousands of Japanese people from across the country, looking to settle the debate surrounding the ancestry of the Japanese people ..read more

In post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intrusive thoughts, changes in mood, and other symptoms after exposure to trauma can greatly impact a person's quality of life. About 6% of people who experience trauma develop the disorder, but scientists don't yet understand the neurobiology underlying PTSD ..read more

Penn State researchers may have uncovered another layer of complexity in the mystery of how diet impacts aging. A new study led by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development examined how a person's telomeres—sections of genetic bases that function like protective caps at the ends of chromosomes—were affected by caloric restriction ..read more

Heritability for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) varies for males and females, with higher heritability seen for males than females, according to a study published online April 17 in JAMA Psychiatry ..read more

By discovering how a type of smooth muscle—which is essential for mechanical aspects of absorbing fats from food—forms in the gut, Cornell scientists have opened doors to making artificial muscle, repairing muscle following gut surgeries, and treating inflammatory bowel disease and obesity ..read more

Cancer cells can change shape to travel around the body and spread (metastasize), but how they know when to do this has remained elusive ..read more

By analyzing electronic health records, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified hundreds of new genes associated with tobacco use disorder. They also identified hundreds of potential drug candidates that could help treat the disease. The study was published in Nature Human Behavior ..read more