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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Prospects of surviving climate change not so bleak for some species
Scientists believe some species, like the Drosophila birchii rainforest fly, may be able to evolve and adapt to the effects of climate ...
Why can some disadvantageous genes remain in a population?
Some 15 percent of adults suffer from fertility problems, many of these due to genetic factors. This is something of a ...
Feathered dinosaurs may have been more common than previously believed
A new dinosaur species — one with feathers — has been discovered in Russia. The finding could mean that feathers ...
DNA portrait of Puerto Rican ancestry
National Geographic’s Genographic Project researches locations where different groups historically intermixed to create a modern day melting pot. Collaborating with 326 ...
Google wants to define health using Big Data
Google's getting in on the big-genome-analysis game with the "Baseline Project," which seeks to examine gather information (genomic and otherwise) ...
For Jamaican athletes, speediness is in the genes
Let's put political correctness aside: World class athletic ability is in the genes, and the success of Jamaican sprinting just ...
Largest-ever genetic study of schizophrenia cements genetic links
By identifying more than 100 new distinct genetic regions associated with schizophrenia, an international team of hundreds of scientists may ...
World’s happiest nations are genetically similar to Denmark
In 2013, the United Nations' World Happiness Report listed Denmark as the country with the highest levels of happiness. Now, ...
Tallying the supercentenarians
The recent death of 111 year old Alexander Imich highlighted the difficulties in keeping track of the world's oldest people, ...
Are environmental pollutants causing heritable disease?
Michael Skinner, a professor of biology at Washington State University, ignited a firestorm of debate in 2005 when he and ...
Why do mosquitoes always seem to bite you and not your friends? Could it be your genes?
You come in from a summer hike covered with itchy red mosquito bites, only to have your friends innocently proclaim ...
For your daily bread, give thanks to the latest genetic research
Bread wheat feeds about 30 percent of the human population, and thanks to two recent major genetic research developments, it ...
CDC Report: Genomics ready to help prevent disease
[B]oth zip and genetic codes are important for our health. Genetic factors are known to play a role in nine ...
Friends have (slightly) similar genomes
A study from a controversial pair of US researchers claims that we are more genetically similar to our friends than ...
NASA says it will find extraterrestrial life soon: Will it be DNA-based?
NASA says it's closer than ever to finding extraterrestrial life, but if and when scientists find life outside of Earth, ...
One family, one kid with a one-of-a-kind disease
The couple had their first child, a son, on December 9, 2007, not long after Matt completed his Ph.D. in ...
Genetic testing of ‘Sasquatch samples’ just animal fur
Legends of mysterious part-human creatures have circulated for centuries, and those stories persist today in cultures around the world, from ...
Could we end malaria with GE mosquitoes?
The ability to edit genomes may offer us the ability to build and release mosquitos resistant to malaria, ending the ...
Why is the myth we only use 10 percent of our brain so hard to bust?
By now, perhaps you’ve seen the trailer for the new sci-fi thriller Lucy. It starts with a flurry of stylized ...
Tennesse law criminalizing drug use in pregnancy doesn’t consider risk and genetics
Given the link between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and birth defects, should expectant mothers who drink be arrested for assault? ...
Obesity epidemic can’t all be blamed on genes
We have been subjected to years of obesity-related headlines, and the news almost always seems to be discouraging. Obesity has ...
Friends share genetic similarities
This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You've got a friend in me." A new study published Monday ...
Human blood types remain a mystery despite a hundred years of study
In 1900 the Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner first discovered blood types, winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for ...
Placenta, controlled by baby’s genes, is bellwhether for fetal and maternal health
Minutes after a baby girl was born on a recent morning at UCSF Medical Center here, her placenta — a ...
Practice does not make perfect: Expertise requires Innate talent
Scientists have long argued over the relative contributions of practice and native talent to the development of elite performance. This ...
Fertility clinics adopting high-tech strategies to pick best embryo for implantation
Annika Levitt initially resisted the fertility clinic’s suggestion that only one embryo — rather than the usual two or more ...
Redheads not on verge of extinction
Redheads, rest easy: your chances of climate change-induced extinction are identical to those of people with less exhilarating hair colour ...
