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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Biology of eye color illuminates progress in combating eye disease
A commonly held belief among Europeans is that all babies are born with blue eyes, which can then change colour ...
Can’t start the day without a cup of Joe? Zest for coffee linked to genes
The number of cups of coffee you have in a day is informed by your genetics as a combination of ...
Re-enacting history of evolution in the laboratory
In his fourth-floor lab at Harvard University, Michael Desai has created hundreds of identical worlds in order to watch evolution ...
Norman Borlaug, father of the green revolution
In honor of the World Food Prize, which was inspired by his work, being awarded next week in Iowa, Genetic ...
Oldest known cave art holds clues to history of human creativity
Humans are intrinsically artists. Cave paintings and hand-carved figurines found in France, Spain and Italy suggest that Homo sapiens were crafting 35-40 ...
Tall Genes: Thousands found responsible for height differences
There are more 600 of spots on the genome responsible for about a fifth of the variation in human height ...
Is climate change reducing the number of boy babies?
Parents are selecting the sexes of their children and they are often choosing males. But there are other forces at ...
Africans dangerously underrepresented in gene research
Almost a decade after the first human genome was published, famed anti-apartheid leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu and three African bushmen became the first sub-saharan ...
DIY fecal transplant: Taking love of the microbiome a bit too far
Anthropologist Jeff Leach ended his last trip to Africa with a bit of self-experimentation. He gave himself a fecal transplant ...
Why there probably is no ‘perfect’ human gut microbiome
Jeff Leach, at the "Human Food Project", has written pungently about a bout of microbiome self-experimentation: "(Re)Becoming Human: what happened the ...
Personal genomics company says it will solve puzzle of Welsh origins
A British genetics company is asking for Welsh participants to help discover the mysterious genetic origins of the famously redheaded ...
‘Junk DNA’ may sometimes contain useful genes
Scientifically speaking, there is no bad DNA, though we like to blame it for unruly hair, klutziness or poor gardening ...
Video: Can we ever create a real-life Jurassic Park?
For the Jurassic Park fans out there, let's be honest, most of us have considered the question Q asks, "Do ...
Do mysterious ‘jumping genes’ fast track evolution?
Genomes have a lot of moving parts. Some stretches of DNA try to assimilate and copy themselves in novel places, ...
Story of Darwinian evolution, as told by coffee plants
Charles Darwin did a fine job of showing why his theory of evolution explained the living world better than any ...
Intelligence genes: Elusive but real
The question of the degree to which genes control intelligence has been so controversial that many geneticists avoid pursuing it ...
Newly discovered bird species in danger from deforestation
Discovering a new species isn’t always as easy as saying “Look, there’s a new species!” In the case of a ...
Ancient skeleton’s DNA window into earliest modern human group
The skeleton of a man who lived more than 2300 years ago and foraged food from the ocean off southern ...
How a biology professor teaches God and evolution
Every year around this time, with the college year starting, I give my students The Talk. It isn’t, as you ...
Genetic testing to map Welsh ancestry to 9,000BC
It’s a question as old as the mountains and valleys of our nation – who are the Welsh? And the ...
Persistence of the massive microbiome myth
Scientists and layman alike have long touted the estimate that microbial cells outnumber humans by 10 to 1. While that ...
60-million-year-old fossils found in China revolutionizing evolution of complex life
Three spherical fossils discovered in China are believed to be from the world's earliest animals, dating back 600 million years ...
Stress caused by poverty reduces mom’s ability to nurture—and may be passed on in genes
From the inside, nothing in the world feels more powerful than our impulse to care for helpless children. But new ...
Ashkenazi Jews descended from Khazarian converts? One Arab view of the evidence
Many of those interested in studying the conspiracy have become convinced that the only way to explain the depth of ...
Uncovering human history in Ethiopia, world’s oldest graveyard
Charles Darwin knew humans evolved from apes, but he died before the strongest fossils that prove our connection with primates ...
Do you drink too much alcohol? It’s partly in the genes
How people perceive and taste alcohol depends partly on genetic factors, and that influences whether they "like" and how much ...
Who makes better space travelers–introverts or extroverts?
Is the long-run future of civilization to select-for those who are introverts? Is intro/extroversion genetically mediated? How might extended space ...
