By Fergus Walsh Medical correspondent, BBC News    The most comprehensive health study in the UK has reached its goal of enrolling 500,000 adults. UK Biobank volunteers have undergone medical checks, answered health and lifestyle...

  Many centenarians carry particular genetic signatures. Heidi Ledford   A mix of DNA sequence variations can be used to predict whether a person lives to 100.Getty Images A cluster of 150 variations in DNA sequence can be used to...

Enzyme structure reveals how cells avoid DNA damage caused by ultraviolet rays Heidi Ledford Most of us can thank DNA polymerase η for protecting us from skin cancer. After a decade-long struggle, researchers have determined the structure...

London's Royal Brompton Hospital said the project would give doctors a better understanding of the inherited factors that help trigger heart disease. The research involves sequencing all 22,000 genes found in the human genome in 10,000 patients. It heralds more personalised treatments for...

Martin Enserink   When humans left Africa some 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, some were already infected with the world's most deadly malaria parasites, a new study says. The findings contradict the view, held by some scientists, that malaria only began afflicting us about 10,000 years...