Human genome

Supreme Court: Natural Human DNA is Not Intellectual Property

On Thursday in Washington D.C., the Supreme Court ruled on a landmark case that will have implications for years to come for commerce, science, and the legal standing of the human genome. Members of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that human genes, the DNA instructions in our cells that make us who we are, cannot be patented as property right-protected information by biotechnology companies.

Zebrafish Genome Shows Medically-Useful Similarities To The Human Sequence

When one thinks of animals related to our species, apes usually spring to mind: chimps, orangutans, bonabos, the usual. What about a zerbrafish, however? Scientists have developed a genome sequence for the tiny swimmer, and it seems that there are some remarkable similarities between the fish's DNA and our own .

EDAR Gene Mutation From East Asia Gives Some Of Us Thicker Hair And More Sweat Glands

While many among our seven billion choose to bicker and argue about tiny differences between one fellow human being and another, the fact remains that we are the same species, and are, in fact, more like each other than anything else on this planet. Enter a new study from Harvard scientists, who have determined that a single gene mutation out of China is responsible for thick hair and a different set up of teeth.