Genetics news | Genetics news

Scientists are still deciphering what has been described as the second genetic code.

They know, Dr.

Szyf said, that a number of chemicals in our bodies act like dimming switches and determine whether every gene in each cell produces a lot of a particular protein, very little or none of it.

They suspect this chemical switching system can be affected by diet, the air pollution we inhale, whether we smoke, and the stress we endure.

It may be a mechanism through which our environment affects our genes.

In mice there is proof some of these changes can be passed down from generation to generation.

There are signs this may be the case for humans, as well, if the environmental changes affect genes in sperm or eggs.

A recent study found that found men who started smoking before puberty are more likely to have overweight male children.

Dutch women who went hungry in the Second World War gave birth to small babies, but their children also had small babies, even though they had enough to eat.

There is also evidence, at least in r...

Together they foraged through marshes to collect insects they would later crush and douse with blue ink in order to study their genetic makeup.

Professor Joslyn developed a method of marking mosquito larvae that enabled researchers to track the insects' traveling patterns, and thus the spread of diseases, such as encephalitis and West Nile virus.

"He looked at the environment in a really fascinating way," said professor Joslyn's wife, Jo Mugnolo Joslyn.

"I would look at a flower and say how pretty the color was, and he would start explaining why it was that color." Professor Joslyn was born in Chicago.

He earned a bachelor's degree in biology and philosophy from Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., and a master's degree and doctorate in zoology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

He joined Rutgers University-Camden in 1979 as an assistant professor and served for several years as associate dean of the faculty of arts and sciences.

He collaborated with Merck Research Laboratories on cancer studies and earned more than $600,000 in grants to fund his work.

In addition to his wife, professor Joslyn is survived by daughters Claire and Emma.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m.

tomorrow at B...