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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For black Americans, DNA ancestry tests contain troubling reminder of treatment of slaves
There’s now hundreds of ancestry reveal videos on YouTube and Facebook, featuring people looking for answers about the past in ...
Genetics may explain tendency towards violence in our evolutionary history
Humans are predisposed to murder each other, new research suggests, although it remains unclear if it’s down to genetics or ...
Why autism genes persist in human gene pool
It has been suspected for some time that numerous defective genes are responsible for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but now, ...
Hillary Clinton: Evolutionary “grandma hypothesis” meets the grandma candidate
Grandmothers played an important role in the evolution of human social relationships and as generational knowledge sinks. Now women of ...
Genetic therapies won’t solve depression anytime soon
Can a better understanding of the genetics of depression lead us to safer, more effective treatments for the disease? ...
DNA study reveals Aboriginal Australians as oldest civilization on Earth
A new genomic study has revealed that Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth, with ancestries stretching back ...
Human evolution: How will our species change over next 100,000 years?
Since we became Homo sapiens, has evolution changed us in any way? Actually, yes. ... [An] example is the gene for ...
Human tendency for obesity not result of evolutionary adaption to survive famine
Scientists have found that nearly all common obesity-related genes didn't actually evolve from an evolutionary advantage from our ancestors, who ...
How one rare disease led to painting of blue people
Most stories about the blue people of Kentucky include an eerie, compelling drawing of a family, with the stark faces ...
Human ancestors may have moved out of Africa in one single migration
Modern humans evolved somewhere in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago. But how did our species go on to populate the ...
Blind use visual cortex region of brain to solve math problems
While a leading theory suggests our visual experiences are linked to our understanding of numbers, a study of people who ...
How evolutionary theory may complicate CRISPR as cancer fighting tool
Using guide RNAs, CRISPR-Cas9 can target and inactivate any gene in a living cell. That makes a powerful tool for ...
Lack of diversity in genetics research systemic problem, not exclusive to personal DNA services
Genetics research has a diversity problem. This is widely recognized, but when you see the data it’s staggering. ... [However, ...
Matching brain with genitals: Complicated neuroscience of gender identity
Finger length, empathy levels and even brain size don’t determine our gender identity. But what does? ...
Genes for Antisocial Personality Disorder may lie at heart of crime
[T]here's no easy answer to the question of why some people end up in jails and prisons while others do not ...
Will evolution eventually undo effects on ecosystem of gene drives?
[A]t New York’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory[,] Philipp Messer...took the stage to discuss a powerful and controversial new application for genetic ...
Video: Scientists film bacteria evolving antibiotic resistance in real time
Ever since the invention of antibiotics, we have been fighting an escalating arms race against bacteria for several decades. Michael ...
Neurons have surprising amount of genomic diversity
Our brains contain a surprising diversity of DNA. Even though we are taught that every cell in our body has ...
Specific neurons may code for social learning in humans
At least one type of social learning, or the ability to learn from observing others’ actions, is processed by individual ...
Human hair protein may replace DNA as key forensics tool
DNA analysis as a way to identify unknown individuals is useful in both forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology, but only if ...
Scientists uncover our tongue’s sixth taste and why we love carbs
[C]arb cravings can be hard to resist[, but n]ow there’s evidence that carbohydrate-rich foods may elicit a unique taste too, ...
Lack of data from people of color marring ancestry reports from 23andMe
I did a 23andMe genetic test...[but] I doubt that most 23andMe users realize how paltry the company’s data is for ...
How genetics affects our diet and lifespan
[T]oday[,] we have the technological ability to traverse an immense amount of distance with relative ease...[which] often leaves our DNA ...
Loneliness may have evolved in humans to help us survive
Loneliness...can...make you depressed, shatter your sleep, [or] even kill you. Yet scientists think loneliness evolved because it was good for ...
What role can science play in sexual orientation choice vs innate debate?
While some claim that sexual orientation is a choice, others say that sexual orientation is a fixed feature of one’s ...
Why do hereditary diseases stubbornly stay in human gene pool?
Some diseases are hereditary that are passed on to next generation. If a person is suffering from diseases like Alzheimer’s or diabetes then ...
Infographic: Can modern biotechnology help you live forever?
Immortality, Fountain of Youth... Both are popular tropes repeated in popular science fiction and fantasy literature and movies. It is an idea ...
