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.
Telomeres linked to death risk in data from largest U.S. “biobank”
Researchers who have assembled a trove of genetic and medical data on 100,000 northern Californians unveiled their initial findings here ...
Debunking the “humans are getting dumber” study
A new study published in Trends in Geneticsis suggesting that humans are slowly but surely losing their intellectual and emotional ...
Brain gene separates humans from apes
An international team of researchers have discovered a new gene that helps explain how humans evolved from apes. Scientists say ...
Men’s Y chromosome isn’t “junk” — it’s an “evolutionary marvel”
The Y chromosome may have gotten a bad rap. Despite the claim that this male sex chromosome is mostly junk, ...
Europeans and Asians traded DNA 2,000 years ago
Genetic blending between Europeans and Asians occurred over 2,000 years ago in the Altai region of Mongolia, according to a ...
Link between child prodigies and autism
While child prodigies have been recognized throughout history, a new study has found a possible link between those we would ...
Identical twins may not be quite so identical
Identical twins may not be so identical after all. Even though identical twins supposedly share all of their DNA, they ...
Ethnic diversity is hallmark of 10,000-person genetic study of type 2 diabetes
In the search for the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes, a group of researchers have made a point to ...
Humans, chimps, monkeys: same DNA different gene regulation
Humans share over 90% of their DNA with their primate cousins. The expression or activity patterns of genes differ across ...
Will we ever decipher everything about a life form based just on its DNA?
As our technologies and understanding advance, will we eventually be able to look at a pile of raw DNA sequence ...
Humanity undergoing “technophysio-evolution”?
Advancements have been made so quickly, and have had such a significant impact on the human body that in the ...
Evolution follows a predictable genetic pattern, Princeton researchers find
Evolution, often perceived as a series of random changes, might in fact be driven by a simple and repeated genetic ...
Are placebo responses genetic?
A study recently published in PLOS one (Catechol-O-Methyltransferase val158met Polymorphism Predicts Placebo Effect in Irritable Bowel Syndrome) purports to have ...
Children and DNA
DNA provides the operating instructions for our cells that influence everything from a person’s hair color to susceptibility to disease ...
New genomics study shows ancestry could help solve disease riddles
Explosive advancement in human genome sequencing opens new possibilities for identifying the genetic roots of certain diseases and finding cures ...
Comparing family history and genetic tests for predicting complex disease risk
In a new theoretical study, 23andMe, the personal genetics company, developed a mathematical model which shows that family history and ...
The genetics of nearsightedness, stretch marks, and motion sickness
What do nearsightedness, stretch marks, and motion sickness have to do with each other? They don’t appear to be genetically ...
Mentally handicapped children may not have inhertited handicap from parents
In children with severe intellectual disabilities genetic causes are very frequent and we have found in more than half of ...
Genetic traces of extinct human species discovered
DNA collected from modern hunter-gatherers -- the Pygmies of Cameroon, the Sandawe and Hadza of Tanzania, and the Khoe-San of ...
Lawsuit: Should state allow DNA to prove native Hawaiian ancestry
A man who says he’s at least half Native Hawaiian but doesn't have the records to prove it is suing ...
Eurogenes Genetic Ancestry Project: There’s something very North Eurasian about Indo-European
Recently we learned that Europeans, especially North Europeans, are actually very North Eurasian genetically (see here). Then, last week, scientists ...
Twin study finds genetics role in personality disorders
A Norwegian study of twins expands the role of genetics in the development of a personality disorder, yet cautions that ...
Khoe-San people represent earliest branch off human family tree
The Khoe-San people of southern Africa have been recognised as one of the earliest-formed distinct human genetic groups for several ...
Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa
A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to ...
How do organisms evolve?
A team of researchers at Michigan State University has documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions. The ...
Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa
Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with ...
Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa
Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with ...
