Genetics

Researchers have identified the gene NANOG as the key switch that initiates the developmental program resulting in cells forming a human body. The finding came from precise DNA edits to fertilized human eggs using CRISPR base editing.

June 24, 2026 Reported by AI

Genetic analysis of remains from Belgium and France indicates that some of the last Neanderthals in north-western Europe lived in diverse, connected groups. The findings suggest inbreeding was not a major factor in their extinction around 40,000 years ago.

A newly published study suggests that a tiny fraction of human DNA plays an outsized role in language ability. Researchers at the University of Iowa found these genetic regions were present before modern humans and Neanderthals diverged. The findings push back the timeline for the biological basis of language.

June 12, 2026 Reported by AI Fact checked

Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital report that mutations commonly associated with clonal blood-cell expansion and some blood cancers were enriched in microglia-like immune cells in Alzheimer’s brains and were also detectable in matched blood samples. The Cell study proposes that age- or injury-related weakening of the blood-brain barrier could allow mutated blood immune cells to enter the brain, potentially amplifying inflammation and contributing to neurodegeneration.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers report that a feedback circuit involving the proteins MYRF-1 and LIN-42 times organism-wide bursts of gene activity that help drive the roundworm C. elegans through its larval stages.

June 01, 2026 Reported by AI

A major analysis of genetic data has linked 127 gene locations to Alzheimer’s disease, including 48 previously unidentified ones. Researchers also flagged several genes as promising drug targets and highlighted changes in immune and nerve cells.