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.
Hominids in love: Humans and Neanderthals may have mated more than 219,000 years ago
If modern humans didn’t reach Europe until about 60,000 years ago, how has DNA from them turned up in a ...
Identifying ‘arthritis gene’ that may have helped us survive Ice Age could revolutionize treatments
Researchers in the US have discovered that a gene mutation which increases the risk of arthritis evolved in the Ice Age to help ...
Viewpoint: NPR fumbles analysis of scientific racism, misunderstands population genetics
NPR’s science blog Cosmos & Culture has a post up about a new book on scientific racism and population genetics,...in which biological ...
Does human life have meaning in an unfathomably vast universe?
Humanity is nothing more than a microscopic blip in the universe. But does that mean we are insignificant? … The ...
Evolution and war: The ‘deep roots’ theory of human violence
War has long been viewed as a way for societies to acquire wealth and power, even though it often doesn't ...
Addictions: Are overeating and drug use hardwired in the brain’s ‘reward circuit’?
Neuroscientists have found that food and recreational drugs have a common target in the “reward circuit” of the brain, and ...
India’s ‘great debate’: DNA unraveling story of settling of continent by ancient English-speaking ‘Aryans’
[Editor's note: Michel Danino is a professor at IIT Gandhinagar, where he assists the growth of its Archaeological Sciences Centre, and ...
NYU ethicists: ‘Biologically’ modified mosquitoes should be deployed to fight Zika
[Arthur Caplan and Kelly Folkers are ethicists at New York University.] Zika is here to stay as a highly dangerous warm-weather pest ...
9,000-year-old ‘skull cult’: Oldest human temple discovered in Turkey
More than 9,000 years ago, a mysterious group of hunter-gatherers built what might be described as the world’s first known ...
Darwin’s mystery animal: Camel-like creature linked to ancient horses finally added to tree of life
After the last of its kind died out about 12,000 years ago, a strange animal that stumped Charles Darwin is ...
Defensive measures: Early vertebrates employed gene-regulating proteins to battle viruses
Viruses and their hosts have been at war for more than a billion years...Although the earliest antiviral systems have long ...
Genetics of Harry Potter: What wizardry can tell us about our DNA
[In the world of "Harry Potter,"] magic appears to follow some of the same rules as other traits that are ...
Mediterranean peoples share a common recent ancestry—except mainland Greeks
Genetic analysis proves that following thousands of years of conquests and migrations, peoples living around the Mediterranean today share common ...
1 in 5 healthy adults may carry rare genetic disease mutations
A new pair of studies is the first ever randomized clinical trials evaluating whole genome sequencing in healthy people. They ...
Built for success: Nigerian football players benefit vastly from their genes, culture, brains
[In the eyes of Bobby Burton, who has been covering college football recruiting for more than 20 years, Nigerian players ...
Mummy DNA: Ancient Egyptians more Middle Eastern than today’s African-mixed population
Scientists have extracted and sequenced DNA from 151 Egyptian mummies with more certainty than ever. They found that ancient Egyptians ...
Are doctors disregarding racial genetic risk factors when treating patients?
We know that some population groups are at greater risk for developing certain diseases. But a recent study says many ...
Being forgetful can actually help your brain make better decisions
Most of us think “perfect” memory means never forgetting, but maybe forgetting actually helps us navigate a world that is ...
Tracing Mormon ancestry may help uncover mysteries of colon and breast cancer
Nobody knew it then, but the genetic mutation came to Utah by wagon with the Hinman family. Lyman Hinman found ...
Genetics to blame for gender wage gap? Florida education official’s comment draws rebuke
A Florida college official said...that women make less money than men because genetically they might lack the skills to negotiate ...
Settling of the Americas: Searching for pieces of the puzzle
DNA analysis of two ancient infants adds to evidence that humans stayed on the Bering strait for thousands of years ...
Feline friends: Cats took their time on the path to domestication
In true feline form, cats took their time deciding whether to jump into humans’ laps. In a new comprehensive study ...
Did evolution unfold steadily, or in fits and starts?
In 1972, the eminent palaeontologist Stephen Jay Gould and his colleague Niles Eldredge...sought to explain so-called gaps in the palaeontological ...
Downside to editing out ‘bad genes’: We might need them later
[With CRISPR, couples] may soon be able to edit [genes linked to genetic disorders] right out of their own sperm, ...
10 more years: Men with this common gene mutation may live longer, grow taller
A common genetic mutation is linked to an increase in life span of about 10 years among men...The mutation, described ...
1,003 new genomes: Bacterial DNA library doubles as sequencing becomes cheaper, faster
The sequence of an organism's genome, a staple in today's world of scientific experimentation, is as essential to scientific research ...
Epigenetics Around the Web: Trump isn’t affecting human evolution and organic produce isn’t helping your sperm
Is Donald Trump adversely affecting human evolution? One professor's opinion shows how the left politicizes science too; Men's Health quotes ...
