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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How to argue evolution with creationists
Creationists and scientists have separate definitions for the word "theory." Getting caught up in arguments about the word's meaning is ...
Findings and techniques of anthropologists and geneticists starting to converge
If anthropology and genetics seem distant from each other on the scientific spectrum, Connie Mulligan—a professor of anthropology at the ...
‘Genome cloaking’ and the quest to keep DNA test results private
Stanford University researchers have developed a tool to keep individual genetic information private, reducing the risk of discrimination by employers ...
Genetic disease breakthrough research: 10 million novel variants found in Swedish population
An extensive exercise to map genetic variation in Sweden has found 33 million genetic variants, 10 million of which are ...
Reckless men? Increased testosterone linked to impulsive decisions
Impulsiveness can be measured in many ways. That chosen by Dr Nave and Dr Nadler was mathematical. In the largest ...
Obsessive-compulsive disorder in dogs: What can we learn about ourselves?
Canine compulsive disorder, like the version that afflicts humans, can take over the animal's eating, sleeping and basic functions. In ...
What can ‘selfish genes’ found in kombucha tea tell us about how humanity has evolved?
For all of kombucha’s peace and love image, research at the Stowers Institute in Kansas City shows some rather sinister ...
What sets humans, chimpanzees apart? Genetic markers could offer answers
What makes humans different from chimpanzees? Evolutionary biologists from Howard University and the Yale School of Public Health have developed ...
22 genes linked to increased intelligence
Genome-wide association studies—GWAS, for short, […] search for differences in people’s genetic makeup—their “genotypes”—that correlate with differences in their observable ...
Driving evolution: Sequencing of ocean microbiome shows nutrient limitation plays key role
Microbes dominate the planet, especially the ocean, and help support the entire marine food web. In a recent report published ...
Peak athletic performance: What are our human limits?
Athletic performance follows a normal distribution, like many other quantities in nature. That means that the number of people capable ...
Could we artificially create mutations that might aid cells in battling cancer?
The scientific challenge has not just been to demonstrate convincingly that harsh environments cause nonrandom mutations. It has also been ...
Mysterious ‘jumping genes’ responsible for spontaneous diseases at birth
Nearly half [of our genes are] made up of jumping genes, which are also called mobile DNA or mobile genetic ...
Why don’t two people with the same illness suffer equally? It’s genetic
Ever wonder why your friend, co-worker, or partner doesn’t get as sick as you, even though they caught the same ...
Could a Planet of the (Talking) Apes ever really evolve?
War for the Planet of the Apes is the latest entry in the 50-year old franchise. A scientist asks: do ...
White supremacists flock to genetic tests to confirm their ‘purity’—but most find they have mixed racial ancestries
With the rise of spit-in-a-cup genetic testing, there’s a trend of white nationalists using these services to prove their racial ...
Lemon-sized baby skull of likely common ancestor of humans and apes found in Africa
Research has revealed that the common ancestor that we share with chimpanzees (our closest primate cousins) lived in Africa 6 to 7 million years ...
High obesity rates among African Americans may be linked to gene variant
African Americans have the highest rate of age-adjusted obesity (48 percent) of all ethnic groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control and ...
Were Bronze Age civilizations felled by climate change?
Clutching a set of drills, scuba divers plunge into a bay near the Gulf of Corinth, in central Greece. On ...
Does genetic diversity in high school classes impact students’ economic fortunes?
Does diversity have a positive effect on economic outcomes? According to a new study co-authored by UC Merced economics Professor Justin Cook, ...
Rewriting history: Study suggests a more robust Neanderthal population
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the ancestors of modern humans diverged from an archaic lineage that gave rise to ...
‘Gettier case’: Philosophical puzzle illustrates challenge of understanding what is true
Philosopher Edmund Gettier devised a thought experiment that has become known as a “Gettier case.” It shows that something’s “off” ...
Ebola ‘family tree’ suggests virus becomes more deadly as it evolves
From 2013 to 2016, western Africa faced an enormous outbreak of Ebola in which 28,616 people fell ill and 11,310 ...
Ancient corn genome could unlock secrets of crop diversity and adaptation
[Kelly Swarts, a quantitative geneticist, and her] team sequenced the genomes of fifteen 1,900-year-old maize cobs found in [a Utah ...
Are transgender people born that way?
A consortium of five research institutions in Europe and the US, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center, George Washington University and ...
Is life a ‘cosmic accident’ or do humans have a higher purpose?
Does humanity exist to serve some ultimate, transcendent purpose? Conventional scientific wisdom gives the answer as a definitive no. … According to [physicist Lawrence ...
We each have 3 billion base pairs in our genome. Artificial intelligence can help us sort it out.
Genes carry the information that make you you. So it's fitting that, when sequenced and stored in a computer, your ...
