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Since this time, research has focused on biological factors that may lead to autistic behaviours. This has found very clearly there is no one cause of autism. A variety of genetic factors are likely to be the ultimate cause of most cases of autism. These may work by themselves, or in combination with environmental factors, to lead a child's brain to develop differently and result in autistic behaviours.

Genome Sciences Education Outreach at the University of Washington in Seattle develops innovative programs that bring leading-edge science to teachers and students in K-12 schools.

The Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle develops innovative programs that bring leading-edge science to teachers and students in K-12 schools.

It may seem counter-intuitive at first but letting mosquitoes grow up and breed may be part of the solution to tackling the devastating impact of malaria. Researchers have used mathematical modeling to examine why conventional insecticides used against the insects that transmit the disease responsible for millions of deaths a year, can quickly become ineffective in areas of intensive use. Their answers may lead to unprecedented advances in malaria control.

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease - when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain.

Sure, we know insufficient serotonin levels get a bad rap when it comes to depression, but that's like blaming one person in a full-scale riot. Depression isn't caused by only one factor. In fact, study co-author Elyse Aurbach says we're probably not getting to the core of why people are depressed because "the brain is immensely complex." In this study, the research team conducted eight experiments (four on animal brains, four on brains of the deceased human kind) of varying sample sizes - from 20 to 90 brains in each - and found that the brains of deceased humans who'd been depressed had increased levels of hippocampal FGF9 and that live animals with increased FGF9 levels demonstrated depressive, anxious behavior. "This is not just a correlation," study leader Huda Akil of the University of Michigan says. Less really may be more, at least when it comes to FGF9.

One of the most important molecules relating to cancer is called p53. This Click and Learn explains the structure and function of the p53 protein as well as how the protein's activity is regulated. Learn why p53 is called the guardian of the genome and how interfering with its function can lead to cancer.

This animation describes insulin resistance, an underlying cause of type 2 diabetes. It explains the roles of glucose and the hormone insulin in our body. Symptoms of diabetes are reviewed and various health complications that type 2 diabetes can lead to if left untreated.

Because the gene-enzyme system forms a closed loop, it presents us with a classic chicken or egg conundrum: Which came first, genes or the protein enzymes they code for? While the details are still not fully worked out, discoveries over the past few decades have lead researchers to a surprising possible solution: What really came first? Genes that act as enzymes! The RNA World Hypothesis is the idea that before living cells, the genetic code, and the gene/protein cycle ever existed, chains of a chemical called RNA were forming naturally. Once formed, some of these chains were able to function as enzymes, and were even able to evolve by making copies of themselves with slight, accidental modifications.

Geneticist Jennifer Doudna co-invented a groundbreaking new technology for editing genes, called CRISPR-Cas9. The tool allows scientists to make precise edits to DNA strands, which could lead to treatments for genetic diseases … but could also be used to create so-called "designer babies." Doudna reviews how CRISPR-Cas9 works - and asks the scientific community to pause and discuss the ethics of this new tool.

In a very short amount of time the human population exploded and is still growing very fast. Will this lead to the end of our civilization?

The WHO recently announced that eating too much processed meat can lead to cancer, but what makes processed meat so bad for you?

Could it be that Alzheimer's disease stems from the toxic remnants of the brain's attempt to fight off infection? Provocative new research by a team of investigators at Harvard leads to this startling hypothesis, which could explain the origins of plaque, the mysterious hard little balls that pockmark the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

In this interrupted case study students analyze the complexities surrounding identification and confirmation of cancer clusters. The case challenges students to consider the evidence from two different perspectives; a local family physician representing the community, and a cluster investigation officer who has worked on several cancer cluster investigations. This case was inspired by the discussion about a possible cancer cluster in Clyde, Ohio, where around 20 cases of childhood cancer since 2001 fueled public concern, leading to an investigation by the Ohio department of health in 2006. This case was designed for introductory courses in biology and environmental sciences, taken by both science majors and non-science majors. In addition to introductory college classes, this case could also be used in advanced high school biology classes.

Six years ago, Yale University's Stephen Stearns and colleagues took advantage of a long-running study in Framingham, Massachusetts, to assess whether the effects of natural selection could be discerned among the people in the multigenerational study population. Over the last seven decades, public-health researchers have been monitoring the residents of Framingham, noting their vital statistics as well as blood sugar and cholesterol levels to understand the factors that lead to heart disease. As the initial group of research subjects got older, the study started to include their children, and then their grandchildren. The records provide a unique view of the health of a segment of the American population since 1948.

In their words, they found that, on average, "female representation in top management leads to an increase of $42 million in firm value." They also measured the firms' "innovation intensity" through the ratio of research and development expenses to assets. They found that companies that prioritized innovation saw greater financial gains when women were part of the top leadership ranks. Racial diversity can deliver the same kinds of benefits. In a study conducted in 2003, Orlando Richard, a professor of management at the University of Texas at Dallas, and his colleagues surveyed executives at 177 national banks in the U.S., then put together a database comparing financial performance, racial diversity and the emphasis the bank presidents put on innovation. For innovation-focused banks, increases in racial diversity were clearly related to enhanced financial performance.

Inflammation may help you fight off invading microbes, but it can also kill you, leading to insufficient blood flow and even organ failure. A new study shows that some cancer drugs may be able to quell the excessive inflammation that occurs in conditions such as sepsis, which is responsible for more than 250,000 deaths in the United States each year.

"There has been an over-reliance on male animals in preclinical research in the past, and as we have worked to study female specific physiological conditions, we became aware that even many aspects of our basic model of diet induced obesity are different in females," Erin Giles, assistant professor at Texas A&M University and lead author of the study, said in a press release.

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The UK's leading cancer charity yesterday welcomed work by British scientists who created a breed of genetically modified hens that can produce cancer-fighting medicines in their eggs. The research could slash the cost of producing drugs and potentially save the NHS millions of pounds.

In a retrospective cohort study investigating the role of epigenetic control in the onset of allergic diseases, it was shown that mothers who suffered from allergic symptoms very early in pregnancy were more likely to have offspring with allergies. This was compared to mothers who did not suffer from allergies in early pregnancy, taking into account family history of allergies and total allergic response during pregnancy (10). These results indicate that gene-environment interactions during embryonic development may modify the epigenetic code in ways that may potentially lead to allergic disease.