A central dogma of biology goes like this: the DNA of genes is copied (‘transcribed’) to make messenger RNA (mRNA), and mRNA…
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Bioinformatics microRNAs: targeting seeds of destructionRead more
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Bioinformatics The First Individual Genome: One Is the Loneliest NumberRead more
When Craig Venter published the complete sequence of his genome in PLOS Biology in 2007, in some ways, it was old news…
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Biology Scanning for Recent Human EvolutionRead more
Survival of the fittest is a concept that is well known to most of us. Heaven knows, many of us strive to…
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Biology Putting CpG islands on the mapRead more
You won’t find CpG islands on any ocean chart, but they do feature in a different sort of map – the…
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Blog A BRCA JourneyRead more
Geneticist and science writer Ricki Lewis describes a personal journey relating to the BRCA1 “breast cancer gene”, to coincide with the publication…
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Debate A Dispatch from the Genetic FrontierRead more
I never thought I had all that much in common with the glamorous film star Angelina Jolie – until May of this…
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Biology Mycobacteria get all the advantages of sex with none of the downsideRead more
Despite the sales pitch, sex is frankly a bit of a hassle, isn’t it? The champagne, the flowers, the desultory conversations…
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Biology Playing Roulette with Seven SexesRead more
Have you ever watched “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”? There are these seven brothers and, well you get the idea… But that…
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Bioinformatics Bacterial Evolution – The MovieRead more
Recent advances in sequencing technology have brought us the complexity of microbial metagenomes from oceans, soils and guts. These massive datasets of…
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Bioinformatics Fractaltastic EvolutionRead more
One of the iconic metaphors of evolution is that of the ‘tree of life’ – it is the image we all have…
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Biology Muscular dystrophy and vitaminsRead more
Therapy for muscular dystrophy? A new study in PLOS Biology raises the possibility that vitamin B3 might be worth assessing as…