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Teens with asthma get tailored treatment thanks to cheap genetic test

7 September 2020

A cheap and simple genetic test can guide the treatment of children with asthma, improving their quality of life

First case of coronavirus reinfection leaves big questions unanswered

25 August 2020

A man appears to have caught two lineages of the coronavirus around four and a half months apart, suggesting people can be reinfected with the virus after making a recovery – but there is much we still don't know

DNA firms are set to profit from your data as testing demand falls

7 February 2020

23andMe and Ancestry are laying off staff as sales slump – but there’s plenty of profit to be made from their huge DNA databases

Traumatic experiences boost the effect of depression-linked genes

23 January 2020

Experiencing trauma seems to alter the way genes for depression are expressed. The vulnerable genes may also help us identify people who might benefit from cognitive behavioural therapies

23andMe has sold the rights to develop a drug based on its users’ DNA

10 January 2020

Consumer genomics firm 23andMe has signed its first deal to sell the rights to develop a new drug for inflammatory diseases to a pharmaceutical company

There's no such thing as a 'gay gene' finds largest study of sexuality

20 August 2019

There’s no such thing as a 'gay gene' and a genetic test for homosexuality would be impossible, the largest ever genetic study of sexuality suggests

People adapted to the cold and got more migraines as a result

3 May 2018

A gene variant that helps humans cope with colder climates also seems to have put people living in northerly regions at a higher risk of migraine

Grandchildren of migrants more likely to get anxiety problems

20 April 2018

People who migrate are at heightened risk of anxiety disorders, and these mental health problems may linger and get more severe through subsequent generations

We can read memories by analysing brain gene activity

10 April 2018

Memories have unique genetic signatures that reveal what they are. The finding could lead to ways to read and alter memories in people with PTSD or phobias

There may be five kinds of diabetes, not just types 1 and 2

1 March 2018

Researchers propose splitting diabetes into five subtypes instead of the current type 1 and type 2 diagnoses. It may help, but we need to know much more