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.
Black Death altered European genes
The Black Death of the 14th century may be written into the DNA of survivors' descendants, new research finds. The ...
New York City student ancestry project to analyze DNA
“I’m part Neanderthal,” Rachel Bruton, a member of National Geographic’s Explorer Programs team, told Medical Daily. “I consider it bragging ...
Neanderthal DNA traces found in African people
Call it humanity's unexpected U-turn. One of the biggest events in the history of our species is the exodus out ...
Were Neanderthals a different species?
Up to 40% of the Neanderthal genome may be preserved across our collective genomes, and the areas of the human ...
What is a ‘healthy’ microbiome?
A group of culturally isolated villagers in the Amazon may hold the key to showing us what a healthy microbiome, ...
Questions about the 7000-year-old dark-skinned, blue-eyed hunter
On Jan 26, a paper in Nature detailed the results of sequencing a 7000-year-old skeleton of an ancient hunter-gatherer from ...
Dispute over when “genetic Adam” lived draws Vatican into the fray
Geneticists in search of the first Y chromosome in human genetic history have used the term "Genetic Adam" enough to ...
One-fifth of Neanderthal genome persists in modern human genome
By piecing together the fragments of Neanderthal DNA in the modern genome, researchers found that the stocky hunter-gatherers gave us ...
Genetic drawbacks of having a manly face
Studying sex differences seldom gets boring. The Darwinian process of sexual selection, in which genes that improve an individual’s reproductive ...
Neanderthal DNA linked to good health and bad
Scientists have found that Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for tens of thousands of years in Europe and Asia and ...
The complex and confusing genetics of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is even more complex than already believed, with rare gene mutations contributing to the disorder. In two studies published ...
Clocks versus rocks: Genetics and the origin of placental mammals
Of the 5500 extant mammal species, 95 percent bear live young with a placenta. Yet ancestral mammals laid eggs, and ...
Surprise: Ancient europeans had dark skin and blue eyes
Ancient Europeans may have been dark-skinned and blue-eyed (a combination rarely found in modern times) according to DNA from a ...
Number of home DNA testing kits in Britain doubled in last two years
Sales of DNA tests for everything from the risk of developing life-threatening diseases to catching out cheating partners are booming. The ...
Truths and myths about left-brain, right-brain functions
Handedness and brain asymmetry are widely regarded as unique to humans, and associated with left-brain and right-brain functions. But which ...
Deciphering the mysterious X chromosome
The X chromosome is part of the system that determines gender. Yet, despite its significance in human life, the X ...
Genes show dogs are descendants of now-extinct wolf breed
The latest genetic study to trace the origins of dogs confirms the view that they were domesticated by hunter-gatherers at ...
Breakthrough in bee sex determination gives new insight into human genetics
Let me tell you ’bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees.... Remember that old Jewel ...
Some ethnically linked genes make it harder to fight off the flu
Research indicated that some Indigenous people such as in Alaska and Australia displayed limited immunity response to the effects of ...
Evolution from water to land, bone by bone
Travel back far enough in your genealogy, and you will run into a fish. Before about 370 million years ago, ...
Genetics might explain preferences of heat or cold
As half the country recovers from record low temperatures, scientists have found that genetics plays an important role in human ...
Were insects pollinating 100 million years ago? Ancient plants found in amber suggest so
Scientists recently discovered a 100-million-year-old piece of amber, which revealed the oldest evidence yet of sexual reproduction in a flowering ...
Ancient European genomes reveal jumbled ancestry
Newly released genome sequences from almost a dozen early human inhabitants of Europe suggest that the continent was once a ...
Stonehenge Man provides rare look at face of British prehistory
Tourists entering English Heritage's new £27 million visitor centre at Stonehenge will quickly confront its most spectacular exhibit – a ...
Wish for 2014: Any ancient African DNA sample
What's on your wish list for the new year in the world of anthropology and human genetics? Here's my #1 ...
Did Pew stumble in its annual poll on support for evolution, exaggerating Republican-Democrat differences??
A new poll, showing Republicans are increasingly skeptical of evolution, is being questioned for seemingly heightening differences in beliefs between ...
New year, new flu evolution
Every year around this time, the age-old practice of making New Year’s Resolutions takes center stage as millions of people ...
