Thanks to a set of new tricks and tools, modifying animals is becoming a lot easier and more precise, which could transform medicine and the meat and eggs you eat and the milk you drink.

The same molecular mechanism that increases life span through calorie restriction may help boost memory and brainpower.

A decision by the European Court of Justice on a DNA patent held by global seed company Monsanto has caused concerns that the ruling could limit the protection companies enjoy on their European patents.

Australian researchers have uncovered a new mutation in stem cells that may be linked to the development of leukaemia, breast and colon cancer.

A new project will seek to identify sources of genetic variation for heat tolerance in durum and bread wheats.

An health project will study the genes, diet and other variables of thousands of people in Africa’s to further understand how genes interact with the environment in relation to diseases.

The completion of the draft human genome sequence was announced ten years ago. Nature ‘s survey of life scientists reveals that biology will never be the same again.

A key gene that trades off a plant’s size with its resistance to disease has been found.

Craig Venter’s creation of a synthetic cell was a tour de force, but the fruits of synthetic biology are more likely to come by other means. And Venter’s perspective on the implications of what his lab created.

Dr Leslie Cannold and Prof Luigi Palombi fuel the fire of the patenting of human genes, either natural or synthesized by Craig Venter