What makes every person unique? Part of the answer is in our genes. A gene is a basic unit of heredity, the means by which traits get passed from one generation to the next, and genetics is the study ...

When my middle school class read Tuck Everlasting, the novel about a girl who befriends a family who drank from a magical stream and gained eternal life, I was conflicted. The moral of the story was ...

“The eyes are the window to the soul,” notes a timeless quote. And while your eyes also bring the world your way, the origins of eye color are fascinating and even mysterious. To help lay out the ...

Dr. Conley is the author of “The Social Genome: The New Science of Nature and Nurture.” Since Francis Galton coined the phrase “nature versus nurture” 150 years ago, the debate about what makes us who ...

The human microbiome is essential for good health. It affects digestion, immune system activity, and how the body regulates metabolism. The gut microbiota is a complex community of microorganisms, ...

How much do your genes determine how long you'll live? It's a question that fascinates us, and one that's been debated for decades.

Why do some people live to 100 while their sibling dies decades earlier? Is it luck, lifestyle, or something written into their DNA? Relative to many other species, humans are particularly long-lived, ...

Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Sofie Salama. Photos by Carolyn Lagattuta A new award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will support a team of ...

In two new studies on 28,000 individuals, researchers can show that genetic variants in 11 regions of the human genome have a clear influence on which bacteria are in the gut and what they do there.

Using a large genetic database, a new study investigated links between coffee and health. The researchers found the genetics of coffee consumption were associated with outcomes of obesity and ...