A long line of discoveries shows the history and biology of the world's most studied piece of DNA, a mutation that causes breast cancer. 01.30.2012
Simple maternal blood tests can detect Down syndrome five weeks earlier than existing tests, with no risk to the fetus. 01.05.2012
microRNAs from rice survive digestion and alter human gene expression. 12.22.2011
Bad food, bad genes, and monogamy are sucking the life out of human sperm. But conceptive gels and stem cells could bring some virility back. 11.08.2011
Drugs that alleviate symptoms of mental illness in mice often wind up producing human treatments. There is just one small problem: Rodent breakdowns look nothing like ours. 11.05.2011
A simple gene switch lets rodents run and run and run. 10.26.2011
A personalized source of stem cells could help find safer, more effective treatments for mental disorders. 10.25.2011
Sixty years of government-funded basic research has set up a potential revolution in our approach to disease. 10.24.2011
Medical researchers are working on new kinds of vaccines that could cure everything from diabetes to nicotine addiction. 10.15.2011
Do-it-yourself biologists are hunting down genetic disorders and creating synthetic life-forms in garages, closets, and backyards around the world. 10.05.2011
Researchers can now get the entire genome of a fetus just by sampling the mother's blood. While this could help new parents prepare, it may also lead to more abortions and more carefully selected offspring. 09.21.2011
Timothy Lu gets bacteria to make enzymes that attack their own biofilms, setting them up for the kill. 09.11.2011
Sheila Nirenberg hopes to cure blindness by combining an artificial eye, gene therapy in the brain, and some skillful translation between them. 08.04.2011
Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. 07.29.2011
What started as the discovery of an unknown disease in Guam has spread to a line of ominous findings about some of our most debilitating conditions and potential toxins lurking in bodies of water around the world. 07.22.2011
IDing crooks from the DNA in their fingerprints, the 8 percent of our genome that came from viruses, and the plant that laughs at our puny genetic endowment. 06.13.2011
Nobel Prize–winner Elizabeth Blackburn's company will soon begin selling a test of telomere length to consumers. Whether that information will actually help improve people's health remains to be seen. 05.18.2011
04.28.2011
04.28.2011
In the quest for longer life, scientists are trying to find the genes of longevity and bottle their benefits for all. 02.07.2011
Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010
The genetic sequences of the turkey, apple, potato, and other traditional Thanksgiving ingredients are providing bountiful lessons for scientists. 11.22.2010
Tiny telescopes, gene therapy, and more: Medical researchers are developing high-tech ways to treat blindness. 11.09.2010
Schizophrenia has long been blamed on bad genes or even bad parents. Wrong, says a growing group of psychiatrists. The real culprit, they claim, is a virus that lives entwined in every person's DNA. 11.08.2010
A decade ago juvenile diabetes was rare. A controversial new theory may reveal what causes the disease—and how to keep the incidence from going still higher. 11.08.2010
Recent research suggests that terrifying experiences can leave lasting scars on the psyches of people who were fetuses at the time. 10.14.2010
The addition of a little acetyl group to proteins seems to have a huge effect on many processes in the body. 10.03.2010
Some science doesn't "shed light" on the subject--instead it forces researchers to question their assumptions and start all over again. 07.29.2010
The difference between one personality and another is not determined by genes alone. Love’s got something to do with it too. 06.16.2010
Pardis Sabeti unravels recent human genetic changes like lactose tolerance, changes in skin tone, and responses to deadly Lassa fever. 04.17.2010
More researchers are using nanoparticles to deliver lethal toxins specifically to cancer cells, leaving regular cells unharmed. 04.14.2010
Erez Lieberman-Aiden's 3-D models of DNA are helping to explain the equally complicated and important molecule. 03.24.2010
The new wonder food seems to be good for two of your most important parts: your heart and brain. 02.23.2010
Our reporter tries out a trio of genetic tests to find out what they can tell her about her identity and her ancestry. 01.11.2010
Myriad Genetics owns the patent over certain breast cancer genes, effectively giving them ownership over any test involving the genes. 01.03.2010
A few DNA-damaging zaps turns stem cells in the follicle from reproduction machines into normal, mortal cells. 12.18.2009
For decades, RNA was seen as a simple slave to DNA. Newer research shows it has an active and critical role in every disease from Alzheimer's to cancer. 11.03.2009
NYU medical geneticist Harry Ostrer says commercial genomic testing can leave consumers confused—and scared. 10.05.2009
Computational geneticist Tara Matise looks for biomarkers that predict when women will become infertile. 09.29.2009
Even geneticist Tara Matise was curious about—but not spooked by—having her genetic palm read. 09.23.2009
For years, gene therapy produced tons of hype but no results. Recently, though, new approaches have yielded its first successes: breakthrough treatments for blindness, cancer, and the deadly bubble boy disease. 09.02.2009
Research has soundly disproved the alleged connection, yet fears about vaccines continue to be a major risk to public health. 05.06.2009
Bacteria-killing viruses called bacteriophages can speed up pathogen evolution by a billion years. 03.28.2009
Researchers are creating genetic tests to determine if mercury hiding in that "healthy" dinner could be messing with your brain. 03.19.2009
Bioengineers will likely control the future of humans as a species. 02.02.2009
Despite the best care, a patient succumbs to a genetically predisposed disease. 01.14.2009
The first cost around $1 million; now, it's more like $200,000. 12.21.2008
Stem-cell guru says reprogramming adult cells might actually work better. 12.19.2008
Genetic tinkering helps repair one rare form of congenital blindness. 12.17.2008
After over a decade, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act becomes law. 12.17.2008
An adaptation against tropical disease makes people of African descent more prone to AIDS. 12.16.2008
Some sufferers of the disease have entirely unique DNA duplications or deletions. 12.11.2008
Obesity, lactose intolerance, and high blood pressure may all be traceable to hunter-gatherer survival. 11.27.2008
08.31.2008
One reporter has her DNA analyzed and finds that genetic testing isn't an exact science. 08.20.2008
A new age of biotechnology promises bigger, faster, better bodies—and no existing tests will catch it. 08.05.2008
A patient's low blood pressure tipped his doctors off to a potentially fatal condition. 04.16.2008
01.15.2008
With individual sequencing, medicine may soon be custom-tailored to your own DNA. 12.12.2007
Her genetic explorations could lead to revolutionary treatments for cancer. 12.06.2007
Genomics takes the first step toward curing the toughest diseases. 10.03.2007
Combining two bad mutant genes produces neurons that're just right. 08.23.2007
If protein, fat, and carbs are bad, what do you eat? 06.06.2007
Homing in on the science of homosexuality—and sexuality itself 06.05.2007
Biologists enhance endurance with genetically altered muscles. 05.30.2007
Inbred oddballs help decode everything from cancer to obesity. 05.22.2007
Squiggles of color could indicate a tender heart 05.17.2007
It may not be a question of which genes, but how they behave. 05.07.2007
Starfish can grow new arms. Why can't we? 04.24.2007
New treatments for a disease that may affect the whole body 03.22.2007
Everything you know is wrong. 03.13.2007
Not all fats are equal. 02.28.2007
More ways to mess up your kids. 12.11.2006
Bears may hold the secret to keeping our bones healthy. 06.20.2006
Blame your genes when you can't fit your jeans. 06.13.2006
Frustrated dieters finally have hard evidence. 04.24.2006
03.03.2006
The warning signs become more ominous as a patient's symptoms come and go 02.20.2006
A scientist's painful battle with balding drives her to find the genetic basis for hair loss 02.20.2006
Genetics increases susceptibility. 01.31.2006
Insulin resistance could bring down our health system, but it's easily preventable. 12.01.2005
Secrets of Redheads 11.22.2005
A young man's surprising collapse has a complex cause. 10.24.2005
Researchers focus on differences between groups to find bad DNA 10.24.2005
08.06.2005
Arizona's Pima Indians have the world's highest rate of diabetes, and the rest of the world is catching up fast. Can geneticists figure out why? 05.01.2005
The people in this land of lakes and forests are so alike that scientists can filter out the genes that contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and asthma 04.28.2005
01.03.2005
Aging may begin in the mitochondria—the powerplants of the cells 01.02.2005
11.25.2004
11.25.2004
11.25.2004
10.01.2004
A genetic alteration causes premature aging. 10.01.2004
04.15.2004
03.28.2004
01.02.2004
09.01.2003
07.01.2003
Every state in the country requires that infants be tested for a list of obscure diseases. Before long, some states could move on to DNA testing of all newborns. Now is the time to decide a critical question: How much do we want to know and when do we want to know it? 07.01.2003
12.01.2002
An elite survivor assesses the hidden costs of exclusion 11.01.2002
Wondering what happened to all that knowledge we got from mapping the human genome? It launched a new race to identify the genes that give us diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. The winner gets to make remarkable new medicines 04.01.2002
The clue to understanding anxiety may be written in your genes 04.01.2002
Uncovering a rare but age-old disease of pain and madness 04.01.2002
The huge promise of genetic medicine is to cure the diseases we were born to inherit. Researchers seem so very close to a breakthrough, yet not one single experiment has worked—yet 03.01.2002
Getting up to speed on medical genetics through the vision of Victor McKusick 02.01.2002
02.01.2002
12.01.2001
03.01.2001
01.01.2001
01.01.2001
The End of a Great Mystery—The Real Beginning of Biology 01.01.2001
He's already proved you wrong. 05.01.2000
Mr. Chang can't move his legs, and if something isn't done, his lungs will go next 12.01.1999
11.01.1999
Another year brings us many, many genes closer to understanding the human genetic endowment. Here are a notable few: 01.01.1999
If you could dictate the content of your kid's genes, wouldn't you? Shouldn't you? 05.01.1998
The Genes of 1997 01.01.1998
11.01.1997
When it comes to questions of human behavior, Dean Hamer, big-gene hunter, is sure he's got the answers. 10.01.1997
One to make you happy, one to make you sad, one to make you mad--is that really the way your genes work? 10.01.1997
A few lucky individuals won't ever contract AIDS: they're genetically immune. And the more we learn about how their genes protect them, the closer we come to protecting all of us. 06.01.1997
02.01.1997
01.01.1997
01.01.1997
01.01.1997
11.01.1996
By examining humans at the molecular level, researchers hope to pin down cancer's true causes. 05.01.1996
01.01.1996
01.01.1996
12.01.1995
12.01.1995
08.01.1995
06.01.1995
03.01.1995
10.01.1994
Cystic fibrosis may be just the opponent gene therapy has been looking for. It's inherited, it's deadly, and--most important--it's responding. 06.01.1994
From the shores of Maracaibo to the halls of Washington, Nancy Wexler has spent 25 years stalking her mother's killer. 12.01.1993
11.01.1993
10.01.1993
08.01.1993
07.01.1993
05.01.1993
03.01.1993
02.01.1993
Some seriously weird things are springing out of the twisted tangle of our DNA. 12.01.1992
Playing God: The Making of Artificial Life 08.01.1992
05.01.1992
Fluorescent dyes shed new light on a cell's inner secrets. 03.01.1992