A new study has raised alarm bells about the potential for the H5N1 bird flu virus to evolve into a strain sparking a human pandemic. A single mutation in the virus currently ravaging dairy farms ...

The patient in Louisiana who was hospitalized with severe bird flu illness was found to have a mutated version of the virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last ...

Researchers have discovered new regions of the human genome particularly vulnerable to mutations. These altered stretches of DNA can be passed down to future generations and are important for how we ...

From the time we are conceived and through old age, genetic mutations accumulate in all our tissues, eluding the body’s typically efficient DNA repair machinery and potentially affecting our health ...

Scientists have revealed parts of the genome that are especially vulnerable to mutations that occur very early on in development. These areas are in the initial portions of genes, where the cell tends ...

A genetic analysis of samples from the patient in Louisiana recently hospitalized with the country's first severe case of H5N1 bird flu show the virus likely mutated in the patient to become ...

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on ...

A newly discovered genetic mutation unique to humans may help explain why we are significantly more vulnerable to cancer than our closest evolutionary relatives. Researchers at the University of ...

(CNN) — A genetic analysis of samples from the patient in Louisiana recently hospitalized with the country’s first severe case of H5N1 bird flu show the virus likely mutated in the patient to become ...