Heritability
Well, it has happened again. Someone has confused the concept of heritability. A recent Slate article discusses the difficulties of twin studies but screws up the concept of heritability in the first...
View ArticleThe (misunderstood) language of DNA
I love analogies and use them often to get people to think about scientific concepts in new ways. I’ll share some of my favourite ones on the blog but today, I want to talk about ANALOGIES GONE BAD!...
View ArticleWhat is DNA?
We see the DNA helix everywhere. It helps market computers, trucks, and cosmetics. People use the helix as an explanation (‘in my DNA’). But do people understand this famous molecule? In different...
View ArticlePenetrance vs. expressivity: why the confusion?
There are lots of new terms at the start of medical school but two terms – penetrance and expressivity – seem to cause undue stress and confusion. One of the first areas of learning for the students is...
View ArticleGenetic counselling should be non-directive
One of the hallmarks of medical genetics is non-directive counselling. Therefore, I was dismayed to read the case for selective paternalism in genetic testing in Wired’s Neuron Culture. In most cases,...
View ArticleMammalian X inactivation
In humans, males are 46XY and females are 46XX. The Y chromosome has been in the news recently but we’re more concerned about the X chromosome today. You’ll notice that there are two copies of the X in...
View ArticleMosaic vs chimera
Both terms refer to one organism with two or more distinct populations of cells * – but they are not interchangeable. The different cell lines in chimeras originally come from different zygotes whereas...
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