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.
Jurassic Park and the race for ancient DNA
In the 1990's rush to find ancient DNA (aDNA) trapped in amber, palaeontologists destroyed priceless fossils ...
Literal gene-ius: The search for a genetic basis of intelligence
Barely out of his teens, Chinese prodigy Zhao Bowen is leading a multimillion-dollar research effort to solve a genetic mystery: ...
Genetic exceptionalism and privacy
Despite privacy fears, genetic information may be less damaging than other forms of personal medical data ...
Should we control sex to protect humanity’s future?
The more we know about the nature of reproduction, the more we can control it -- and our own future ...
Ethnic background influences immune response to TB
Your ethnic background could influence the way in which your body fights tuberculosis. Over the thousands of years that humans ...
Ancient bones’ DNA draws a direct line to people living today
A study of mitochondrial DNA reveals the long history of the Native American community in northern British Columbia, Canada ...
Scientists watch DNA development in a growing brain
Researchers have used chemical tracking and genome sequencing to create a time-lapse map of human brains as they develop ...
Gene sleuths find how some naturally resist cholera
Researchers found that people of the Ganges Delta have adapted genetically to withstand cholera and arsenic ...
A tendency to be disliked? How genetics relate to peer rejection in school
The following is an excerpt. A lack of friends and poor peer relationships can have a damaging effect on children’s ...
700,000-year-old horse genome shatters record for sequencing of ancient DNA
The following is an excerpt. By piecing together the genetic information locked inside a frozen, fossilized bone, scientists have deciphered ...
The key to female longevity is in the genes
The following is an excerpt. Across countries and species, females live longer than males. It’s true in Canada, where a ...
‘Don’t touch my junk DNA!’ says gene signal sequence
The following is an edited excerpt. Almost all of the human genome is made of noncoding, or "junk" DNA, that ...
Neuroscience: Big promises, big problems
Neuroimaging is widely regarded as the key to understanding everything we do -- but is this wrong? ...
Two genetic code tweaks 500 million years ago caused evolutionary jump
The following is an excerpt. Modern day reproductive systems are the result of changes in two letters of genetic code ...
Ancient horse genome sequenced: Ancient humans next?
Researchers have assembled a draft of the genome of nearly 700,000-year-old horse. Can they do it for pre-neandertal humans? ...
We’re carrying evolution’s excess baggage – why can’t we let go?
The following is an excerpt. For 150 years or so, biologists have studied the human body for the vestiges of ...
DNA tests estimate that Prince William is 0.3 to 0.8 percent Indian
Researchers have found that Prince William, heir to the throne, likely carries a small amount of Indian DNA ...
No, this is not how the human face might look in 100,000 years
One artist’s vision of what humanity will look like in 100,000 years includes huge eyes and foreheads. Apparently, we’re all ...
Scientists identify mutations associated with intelligence for first time
In the first study of its kind that has generated a reproducible result, researchers report on ten variations in DNA ...
Centenarian genetics: The search for longevity-enhancing biotech
People who live past age 100 develop diseases at much later ages than the rest of us. Scientists are working ...
The biology of identity
Are your talents, traits, and insecurities so deeply embedded in your genes that they’re basically inevitable? ...
The forecast on the race, genetics, and intelligence debate
The following is an editorial summary. It is often said that race is a social fact and a biological fiction ...
What makes us human: genetics, culture or both?
The following is an edited excerpt. Was there a single trigger that kickstarted the human revolution? Undoubtedly genetic mutation played ...
Ask a geneticist: Race and IQ?
This Q&A with a geneticist offers a crash-course in genetics, race, and intelligence for the curious layperson ...
Researchers feud over Jewish genes
The following is an excerpt. Are Jews genetically homogenous? Though it’s certainly been a loaded question historically, the quandary has ...
Scientists sequence genome of ‘sacred lotus,’ which likely holds anti-aging secrets
The following is an excerpt. A team of 70 scientists from the U.S., China, Australia and Japan today reports having ...
Microbiome: How the bacterial genes in our gut impact us
For every human cell that is intrinsic to our body, there are about 10 resident microbes ...
