Gametes can transmit not only genetic but also epigenetic information to the next generation. Such epigenetic inheritance can occur via several mechanisms, including DNA methylation, chromatin ...

A research team led by Professor Yuanliang ZHAI at the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) collaborating with Professor Ning GAO and Professor Qing LI from Peking ...

Not everything inside us is, strictly speaking, us. The closer we look at the genome, the more we appreciate the role of small RNAs in what we call epigenetic inheritance. That's when traits get ...

From the color of our eyes to our odds of developing cancer, we’re all shaped by the genetic legacy of our ancestors. But a new study in mice provides the clearest evidence yet that acquired traits ...

Many times, scientists embark on a study looking for evidence for a particular hypothesis, and in the process, they come across something totally unexpected and different from their original purpose.

The earliest studies of genetic inheritance were very straightforward - Gregor Mendel documented the passage of certain easily observable traits as they passed down through generations of pea plants.

Srinivasu Karri is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota. He investigates how cells accurately recycle parental histones during DNA replication to maintain critical chromatin states ...

Evidence is mounting that epigenetic marks on DNA can influence future generations in a variety of ways. But how such phenomena might affect large-scale evolutionary processes is hotly debated. The ...

Scientists have long known that the DNA code in genes is not the only way to pass genetic traits from parents to offspring. “Epigenetic” marks — chemical modifications to DNA that don’t change the DNA ...

New research in C. elegans from scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) helps explain how changes in the parents’ lysosomes that promote longevity are transferred to their offspring.

When we think about genetic inheritance, we usually leap to DNA, the four-letter code containing the instructions for building a living organism. Scientists know that DNA encodes everything from hair ...