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.
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Canine neuroscience: Exploring what shapes dog personalities
Why do dogs behave so differently, even within their own breeds? Neuroscientist unlocking secrets of canine brain ...
First on the list for de-extinction? The famed dodo
The dodo, a flightless bird once hunted to extinction, is to be re-introduced by genetically engineering fresh ones ...
We live in a world of conflict and competition. Why has kindness persisted?
Recently, I was walking with some fellow parents after nursery drop-off when we came across a five-pound note lying on ...
Should we be concerned that gene-editing seeds will cascade into unpredictable changes?
For tens of thousands of years, evolution shaped tomatoes through natural mutations. Then, humans came along. For centuries, we've bred ...
Could another species of humans evolve? Yes, if we begin populating other planets
Along with Homo sapiens, at least eight other species of human have existed. Ultimately, just one species prevailed: Homo sapiens ...
Artificial intelligence helps researchers unpack the mystery of how life on Earth began
AI is helping chemists unpick the mysteries around the origins of life and detect signs of it on other worlds ...
Feline evolution: How house cats and humans domesticated each other
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go on safari in southern Africa. One of the greatest thrills ...
Tracing the history of evolutionary psychology all the way back to Charles Darwin
Evolutionary psychology can be traced back to Darwin's own work. Several variants have emerged on the scene over the decades ...
Ekgmowechashala mystery solved: Unique Chinese monkey-like creature was last primate to populate the Americas before humans arrived
Besides being a spelling bee stumper, Ekgmowechashala likely descended from animals in China and somehow migrated to North America ...
GLP podcast/video: Many Americans still reject evolution; should we worry? Top-10 food myths, debunked; Farmers finally growing Golden Rice
The creation-evolution debate has fallen out of the spotlight in recent years, but many Americans still reject Darwin's theory. Should ...
Is there an evolutionary explanation for homosexuality in animals, including humans?
Since gay couples have fewer children, the high frequency of same-sex relationships in humans is puzzling from an evolutionary point ...
Genetic research equity: Why researchers are sequencing genomes of 500,000 people of African ancestry
The $80 million effort will provide researchers at U.S. HBCUs and African institutions with exclusive access to the data ...
Why it’s so critical to move beyond liberal rejectionism of human biodiversity
The way in which evolutionary explanations can be so readily applied to apparent differences in human psychology does highlight the ...
GLP podcast/video: BBC corrects botched organic farming report; Happy 41st birthday, GMO insulin! Scientific American a ‘scientific sewer’?
Facing intense criticism from experts, the BBC was pushed to correct a deeply misleading story about the benefits of organic ...
Ancient pairing: Neanderthals and humans first interbred 250,000 years ago, new analysis shows
It was previously believed that Neanderthals and humans first encountered each other around 75,000 years ago ...
Octopuses are incredibly intelligent creatures. Should they receive more protection against scientific experimentation?
According to Dr. Barbara J. King, professor emerita of anthropology at the College of William & Mary and author of ...
Blame human evolution for corporate jargon and thick academic prose
For anyone who’s ever worked in a large organization, this kind of message will be depressingly familiar: “Do you have ...
What might our pre-human ape ancestors have looked like? This 12-million-year-old reconstructed face may provide clues
Skull and bones of European ape were found together and could be one of the earliest relatives of human race ...
It’s become axiomatic that the ability to eat meat helped spur development of intelligence in early humans. Let’s reassess
Modern man is a born meat eater, they reason, as a glance at human history shows. What's more, the mastery ...
Viewpoint: Scientific American has become a ’scientific sewer’, promoting ideological rubbish on the evolution of male-female differences, claims University of Chicago biologist Jerry Coyne
I read this new article in Scientific American claiming that women constituted a high proportion of hunters in early hunter-gatherer ...
Biotechnology timeline: Humans have manipulated genes since the ‘dawn of civilization’
The history of biotechnology shows how humans have been manipulating nature for our benefit for a long time—and how modern ...
How to argue about ‘race’: Charles Murray and Adam Rutherford are not so far apart
Shortly before the killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer in May this year, two (now tragically ...
Pangaea Ultima: What geologists think landmasses of the world might look like in 250 million years
Only a fraction of the planet’s surface will be habitable to mammals when the next supercontinent, Pangaea Ultima, forms ...
Viewpoint: How genetics shapes human differences and why we shouldn’t avoid talking about this taboo
There’s a long history of people misusing genetics research to justify societal inequalities; many people have chosen to ignore it ...
Background mutations: Why CRISPR-edited genes have to work together with thousands of naturally-evolved genes
For tens of thousands of years, evolution shaped tomatoes through natural mutations. Then, humans came along. For centuries, we’ve bred ...
Neanderthals are in all of us: Genetic legacy of our Pleistocene ancestors broadens understanding of disease and survival
Scientists are finding that traits inherited from our ancient cousins are still with us now, affecting our fertility, our immune ...
Does same-sex bonding in animals provide insight into sexual orientation in humans?
Apes branched off from other primates about 25 million years ago and evolved a much higher rate of same-sex sexual ...
