Variable expressivity and epistasis go hand in hand when talking about genetic disorders. Knowing what they mean will help you really understand the kind of complications researchers are up against. In this article I’ll illustrate these concepts using a recently published paper on the causes of autism as an example. One of the genetic risk [Read More →]

We know that lots of genes are involved in cancer progression. For example, you’ve probably read something like “scientists have found the gene for such-and-such cancer” or something similar. What does that really mean? Are there really genes which cause cancer? And why do we have those genes anyways, if that’s all they do? Generally [Read More →]

When geneticists want to uncover genetic associations for a particular disease, they can compare specific genetic variants (alleles) present in a large group of individuals with the disease to those present in a large group without the disease. The basic logic is that variants over-represented- or only found in- the disease population, are associated with [Read More →]

Over the past ten years dozens of animals have seen their genomes sequenced. With the completion of each project, researchers have been eager to hear what new insights the genome of that animal has given us. The latest animal to reach the ranks of database legacy is the panda (or more specifically Jing Jing of [Read More →]