Ancestry & Evolution
The desire to understand our origins is primal. By examining our DNA over successive generations through the evolutionary process of inherited characteristics of human and animal populations–as well as from those species from which humans share a common ancestry–we can decipher our individual and collective past and develop medical innovations for the future.
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Skeletal remains confirmed to be Richard III, raise questions about royal lineage
Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up a surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree. Scientists who ...
Why did humans evolve to drink alcohol?
Human ancestors may have begun evolving the knack for consuming alcohol about 10 million years ago, long before modern humans ...
Are we Martians? DNA survives entry into Earth’s atmosphere–Are planets source of life?
Exposed to the high temperatures of rapid transit through the upper atmosphere, DNA, the hereditary material in all life, survives ...
GMO Bingo!! What will the scientists say at tonights’ Great Biotech Debate. Check to see who plays the ‘fear’ cards.
Click the image above to read the story: TONIGHT: Battle over Biotechnology: Pro and anti GMO scientists square off ...
Paleolithic diet advocates find no support from genetics
We still hear and read a lot about how a diet based on what our Stone Age ancestors ate may ...
DNA structure co-discoverer James Watson to sell Nobel Prize amid backlash against racial remarks
James Watson, the famed molecular biologist and co-discoverer of DNA, is putting his Nobel Prize up for auction. This sad ...
Animals steal antibiotic genes from microbes
Life on this planet has existed for at least 3.5 billion years. For most of that time, it was microscopic ...
Genetics may explain why many near Fukushima nuclear disaster unaffected by radiation exposure
People fear the effects or radiation, particularly in the aftermath of nuclear disasters, but not all the health news after ...
Teens’ brains: Social processing fails when they hear mom’s criticism
We all know that teen-parent relations can be a tricky business. Now neuroscientists from several leading US universities think they’ve ...
Your dog’s body language shows whether he hears your command
If you are worried that your dog is not paying attention to what you are saying simply look at where ...
Newly discovered ancient mammal had some surprising traits
Mesozoic mammals were fascinating little beasts. They burrowed, climbed, glided, and swam through the Age of Dinosaurs, not as underdogs ...
Gay genes discovery coming soon?
A just release paper confirms male homosexuality is associated with a particular section of the X chromosome. Researchers are convinced ...
Relationship problems? Genes may be responsible
In a study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, scientists from the University of Queensland claimed to have ...
Financial pressure may force Galápagos conservation organization to close
A 50-year-old conservation organization dedicated to preserving the biodiversity hotspot that inspired Charles Darwin is about to fall off a ...
Translating language in real time relies on interconnectedness of brain’s networks
As the delegate spoke, real-time interpreter Marisa Pinkney had to make sense of a message composed in one language while ...
What researchers have learned about human evolution in 40 years since Lucy discovery
“Feeling really lucky,” Donald Johanson wrote in his diary the morning of 24 November 1974, while staying at a remote ...
Immunorepertoire: New slant on personalized medicine
Antibodies and T cell receptors recognize all of the proteins in our bodies, and thereby provide a record of everything ...
Only birds evolved feathers, but many other species have genes for them, too
Feathers are like eyes or hands. They’re so complex, so impressive in their adaptations, so good at getting a job ...
Neanderthals distinct species from modern humans, new research claims
In an extensive, multi-institution study led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center, researchers have identified new evidence supporting the growing belief ...
How warfare shaped female psychological evolution
Evidence suggests that warfare is an ancient part of human life, dating back to when all humans lived as hunter-gatherers ...
Sedentary lifestyle, not genes, cause childhood obesity
As the waistlines of children in the United States continue to grow, scientists continue to seek causes of the childhood ...
We might be able to clone mammoths, but should we?
I’m a paleobiologist at the Natural History Museum in London, and I live, sleep and dream mammoths. I doubt that ...
Why does your cat love you…sort of? DNA unravels feline mysteries
Domestic cats have a reputation as being "marginally tame and lacking in the servile sycophantic affect of the dog." Added ...
EO Wilson, Richard Dawkins feud fueled more by arrogance than science
Last weekend, renowned evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson was interviewed by BBC Newsnight. In the course of the interview, he ...
Most Jews can trace ancestry to Middle East
Where did the Jews originate? For Bennett Greenspan, the founder and president of Family Tree DNA, there’s little doubt, and ...
Evolution explains infanticide among mammals
In the early 1970s, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, then a graduate student at Harvard, traveled to India to study Hanuman langurs, ...
Humans struggle to identify odors despite acute sense of smell
In most mammals, olfaction is dominant. Smell uses a large portion of their brains, and aroma receptors are encoded by ...
