Australia's unique duck-billed platypus -- an egg-laying, furry animal with web feet that spends most of its time underwater -- is in fact part bird, part reptile and part mammal according to its gene map. A team of international scientists released the platypus genome on Thursday, saying its complex sequence will aid the study of human evolution -- particularly the development of the immune, nervous and reproductive systems.

Scientists have found important genetic differences between people that may help explain why some smokers get lung cancer and others do not. Three teams from France, Iceland and the United States said on Wednesday that they had pinpointed a region of the genome containing genes that can put smokers at even greater risk of contracting the killer disease. In all three studies, nicotine appears a major culprit.

San Diego: Dr John Kelsoe has spent his career trying to identify the biological roots of bipolar disorder.

A genetic circuit in HIV that decides whether it switches on or stays dormant could hold the key to anti-HIV therapy, according to a new study.

Over-use of high-yielding breeds of farm animals is affecting the indigenous livestock. The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources report by the FAO warns this trend weakens genetic diversity

Even as actor Salman Khan's brief stint at the t Jodhpur jail hogged the headlines, scientists at the Hyderabad-based Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LacoNEs) held a quite celebration. Their experiment in artificially inseminating a black buck had proved to be a success. Blacky, as the fawn was named, was born on August 23 to one of the three inseminated bucks.

through genetic analysis, scientists have established that the clouded leopard found on Borneo island is a new species