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Article: Silence of the genes. (new findings on 'imprinted' genes)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- December 8, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Few 19th-century Austrian monks still enjoy the level of respect accorded Gregor Mendel. His groundbreaking 1865 treatise on heredity remains the cornerstone of modern-day genetics. About one thing, however, Mendel turned out to be mistaken: He believed genes to be sexless.
A gene from Mom, Mendel's laws assert, is just as good as a gene from Dad. But now researchers are discovering that certain genes--known as "imprinted" genes--behave radically differently depending on which parent they are inherited from. A gene "turned on" or expressed from the paternal side may be "turned off" or silenced from the maternal side--and vice versa. "We learned our Mendelian ...