Tag: Genes

Father’s nicotine use can cause cognitive problems in children and grandchildren

A father’s exposure to nicotine may cause cognitive deficits in his children and even grandchildren, according to a study in mice publishing on October 16 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Pradeep Bhide of Florida State University in Tallahassee and colleagues. The effect, which was not caused by direct secondhand exposure, may be due to epigenetic changes in key genes in the father’s sperm. Continue reading “Father’s nicotine use can cause cognitive problems in children and grandchildren” →

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Evolution purged many Neanderthal genes from human genome

Neanderthal genetic material is found in only small amounts in the genomes of modern humans because, after interbreeding, natural selection removed large numbers of weakly deleterious Neanderthal gene variants, according to a study by Ivan Juric and colleagues at the University of California, Davis, published November 8th, 2016 in PLOS Genetics. Continue reading “Evolution purged many Neanderthal genes from human genome” →

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Does our environment affect the genes in our brains?

Is there a link between differences in IQ test performance and the activity of certain genes? Researchers from Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin have shown that modifications in the structure of a specific gene have a negative impact on individual test performance. This suggests that environmentally-induced epigenetic changes to our genetic material have a greater impact on intelligence than previously thought. Results from this study have been published in Translational Psychiatry. Continue reading “Does our environment affect the genes in our brains?” →

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