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.
Fish’s DNA may explain how fins turned to feet
The following is an excerpt. In the hope of reconstructing a pivotal step in evolution — the colonization of land ...
And Bob’s your uncle: A guide to defining kinfolk
The following is an excerpt. When genetic counselors attend family reunions, their unofficial job becomes Namer-of-Relationships. “Keith, you and I are ...
Mummy genetics study may be prelude to widespread genome mapping of ancient Egyptians
The following is an excerpt. The ancient Egyptians could soon be getting their genomes sequenced as a matter of routine ...
Confusion reigns on genes, race, and Alzheimer’s
The following is an excerpt. Wildly divergent headlines about a study of Alzheimer’s disease vividly illustrate the depth and breadth ...
Why a foolish instinct for love?
The following is an edited excerpt. I remember the specific moment when I was 13 that I became aware ...
Why care about human evolution?
The study of human evolution allows us to “to discover more profound implications about ourselves and our essential natures”, writes ...
Revolutionizing the “Out of Africa” story
The following is an excerpt. The discovery of the structure of DNA and the subsequent developments in genetics and genomics have had a great impact on ...
Pigmentation: the simplest of complex traits not so simple?
The following is an excerpt. One of the pitfalls about talking about genetics, especially human genetics, is that the public wants ...
Mutations behind inflammatory disease were an adaptation
The following is an excerpt. Multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases may result from mutated genes that were once positive ...
Neanderthal genome is finished and free
The following is excerpt. Three years after an international team of experts led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for ...
Are boys really better at math, girls better at reading?
Are the human sexes distinct in their math abilities? In their reading abilities? Sex differences in math and reading scores ...
Your politics are in your genes
It would be silly to think of newborn babies’ brains as being a blank slate. A preponderance of biological research ...
Cravings and addictions: It’s all down to genetics
The following is an excerpt. I'd like to think that DNA has a significant but limited impact on human achievement ...
Aztec conquest altered genetics of early Mexico inhabitants
The following is an excerpt. AUSTIN, Texas — For centuries, the fate of the original Otomí inhabitants of Xaltocan, the ...
Bringing back the Neanderthal genome the old-fashioned way
The following is an excerpt. With all the crazy talk about George Church and an adventurous young woman conspiring to bring back ...
Are you carrying the redhead gene?
The following is an excerpt. Some parents worry that their children will be born with a rare disease or a ...
George Church does not want you to have a Neanderthal baby
The following is an excerpt. Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church found himself at the middle of a viral ...
Matching names to genes: The end of genetic privacy?
An MIT research team used publicly available genetic information and an algorithm to identify some of the people who donated ...
Human genetic diversity exploded in recent millennia
Most of the genetic quirks people carry today popped up within the last 5,000 years or so, researchers report online ...
New class of genes may shed light on evolutionary mysteries
The decade or so since the completion of the Human Genome Project has shown that lots of the junk must ...
Is evolution reducing our intelligence?
James R. Flynn’s observation that IQ scores experienced dramatic gains from generation to generation throughout the 20th century has been ...
The mysterious genetics of homosexuality
[A] reasonable summary is that, when it comes to male homosexuality, there is almost certainly a direct influence, although probably ...
Are we getting dumber?
It’s easy to think of history as a march of progress, with humans growing smarter and more capable over time ...
Cancer is NOT an evolutionary atavism
A while back, two physicists, Paul Davies and Charles Lineweaver, announced their explanation for cancer with a novel theory, which ...
“Fat and jolly” genetically linked
It used to be a stereotype that being fat meant you had a happy personality. Then culture went out of ...
Cancer can teach us about our own evolution
Cancer, it seems, is embedded in the basic machinery of life, a type of default state that can be triggered ...
The “junk” in your genetic trunk isn’t junk at all
The non-coding or ‘junk’ regions can help switch genes on or off which, in turn, influences whether a cell makes ...
