The Year in Genetics

Musical genes, the platypus as animal grab-bag, cracking the anthrax case, and more.

Dec 27, 2008 6:00 AMNov 12, 2019 6:01 AM

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#9: Your Genome, Now Available for a (Relative) DiscountThe first cost around $1 million; now, it's more like $200,000.

#29: A New Law Bans Genetic Discrimination After over a decade, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act becomes law.

#32: DNA Sleuthing Cracks the Anthrax Case Microbial forensics seems to have solved an infamous whodunnit.

#34: Anti-Malaria Gene Boosts HIV VulnerabilityAn adaptation against tropical disease makes people of African descent more prone to AIDS.

#41: A Synthetic Genome Is Built From ScratchThe art of recreating an entire bacterial genome.

#52: Musical Ability Seems to Be 50 Percent GeneticBeethovens of the world may have innate advantages like better signaling from inner-ear hair cells.

#57: Schizophrenia Linked to Large Genetic Alterations Some sufferers of the disease have entirely unique DNA duplications or deletions.

#63: Lizardlike Tuatara Sets a Speed Record for DNA ChangeThe reptile undergoes rapid molecular evolution but is largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs.

#90: The Platypus Genome Is a Mash-Up of Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals One animal, three completely different ancestors.

#98: You're More Like a Sponge Than a Comb JellyA gelatinous zooplankton can now trace its roots back to the world's first life.

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