Gene technologies are developing at a high speed. Yet, the understandings and ethical conceptions about these developments are not sufficiently scrutinized and reflected. Our qualitative analysis examines everyday myths of younger generations about genome editing; these contribute to a complex fabric of rationally and intuitively justified…

There is an increasing awareness among researchers and educators that a significant number of males are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in comparison to females. Recent research has found noted differences related to ASD characteristics associated with females. The differences are particularly noted in females with average to above…

Autism spectrum disorder has often been assumed to be a protective factor against substance use, yet the extent of substance use in this population has been difficult to determine as limited research has been done on these interacting variables. This systematic literature review examined 26 studies published between 2009 and 2019 to uncover the…

This research examines how the human genome and SES jointly and interactively shape verbal ability among youth in the U.S. The youth are aged 12-18 when the study starts. The research draws on findings from the latest GWAS as well as a rich set of longitudinal SES measures at individual, family and neighborhood levels from Add Health (N = 7194).…

Using a hippocampus-dependent contextual threat learning and memory task, we report widespread, coordinated DNA methylation changes in CA1 hippocampus of Sprague-Dawley rats specific to threat learning at genes involved in synaptic transmission. Experience-dependent alternations in gene expression and DNA methylation were observed as early as 1 h…

The critical thinking skills are needed by biology teacher candidates to deal with the nowadays ethical issues arisen among society. The aim of this research was to observe the critical thinking skills of biology teacher candidates toward the ethical issues especially in genetic field through online discussion. The subjects of this experimental…

Background: Many individuals with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers struggle to provide accurate and complete information to healthcare providers. Method: The present authors provided personal medical information cards (PMICs) containing contact and medical information to 52 Canadian adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a genetic…

We provide a protocol for rapid DNA extraction from spiders suitable for undergraduate practical sessions. Students who were previously naïve to the theory and laboratory technique of DNA barcoding were successfully able to extract and recover 29 DNA sequences from 16 species of small spiders in the family Linyphiidae. We anticipate that with…

The field of epigenetics is progressing rapidly and becoming indispensable to the study of fundamental gene regulation. Recent advances are redefining our understanding of core components that regulate gene expression during development and in human diseases. Scientific knowledge on the importance of epigenetic regulation is now well known and…

Individual differences in cognitive decline during normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are common, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these distinct outcomes are not fully understood. We utilized a combination of genetic, molecular, and behavioral data from a mouse population designed to model human variation in cognitive outcomes to…

School genetics is changing. Nowadays, students are more likely to be introduced to the idea that many characteristics of organisms, including those of humans, are not determined by the actions of just one or two genes but result from interactions between the products of many genes and the environments of each organism. This article asks whether…

Child maltreatment is a global phenomenon that affects the lives of millions of children. Worldwide, as many as one in three to six children encounter physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from their caregivers. Children who experience abuse often show alterations in stress reactivity. Although this alteration may reflect a physiological survival…

The idea of the interaction between genes and environment in the formation of traits is an important component of genetic literacy, because it explains the plastic nature of phenotypes. However, most studies in genetics education characterize challenges in understanding and reasoning about genetic phenomena that do not involve modulation by the…

Purpose: To date, research characterizing swallowing changes in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has primarily relied on subjective descriptions. Thus, the degree to which swallowing physiology is altered in ALS, and relationships between such alterations and swallow safety and/or efficiency are not well characterized. This…

Auditory processing abnormalities in fragile X syndrome (FXS) may contribute to difficulties with language development, pattern identification, and contextual updating. Participants with FXS (N = 41) and controls (N = 27) underwent auditory event-related potentials during presentation of an oddball paradigm. Data was adequate for analysis for 33…