Investigators at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) announced a faster and less expensive way for scientists to find which genes might affect human health.

Among the approximately 23,000 genes found in human DNA, scientists currently estimate that there may be as few as 50 to 100 that have no counterparts in other species. Expand that comparison to include the primate family known as hominoids, and there may be several hundred unique genes.

Australian researchers have identified five genes which they hope will improve treatment for people with brain tumours.

A very common gene can help explain why breastfed babies tend to grow up to be more intelligent than those raised exclusively on bottled milk.

A new study published online on October 18th in Current Biology reveals that adaptive changes in a human gene involved in speech and language were shared by our closest extinct relatives, the Neandertals. The finding reveals that the human form of the gene arose much earlier than scientists had estimated previously. It also raises the possibility that Neandertals possessed some of the prerequisites for language.

Researchers say people who just can't stop eating may be able to lay much of the blame on their genes. A study in the United States has found that as much as 50 per cent of the population carries a gene variation that may give them extra pleasure from eating.

One day cancer patients would receive treatment dependant on their genes. With an increasing number of biological clues available to help predict cancer, doctors hope they will soon customize patients' treatments based on their genetic profiles.

If you were a prehistoric human, would you prefer to able to sprint very fast for short distances or to jog comfortably for kilometres? That is one of the questions thrown up by the so-called "gene for speed," known as ACTN3.

For the first time, scientists have identified one of the many genes which commonly influence our height. The work, which was partly funded by the EU, is published online by the journal Nature Genetics.

Gene networks are some of the most basic features of a living organism. An external or internal stimulus activates some genes, which in turn control others genes whose activity turns on or off various biological processes (such as the cell cycle, energy production, DNA repair, cellular suicide etc).

There are special diseases that are so old that it is known that even Egyptian mummies and tsars’ families were suffering from them. No medications have been yet created to cure them, and no doctor can help get rid of such diseases. Doctors say that such diseases that are called hereditary diseases emerge as a result of natural selection. These diseases are programmed to progress only.

Biologists still have no clear idea how many active genes there are coding for proteins in humans and other organisms, even though for some species the genomes have been completely sequenced. This is because many of the genes and their protein products have only been predicted by computer algorithms that are at this time imperfect.