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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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 ...
Genetics may influence how you feel about your weight
New research led by the University of Colorado Boulder is the first to show that people inherit genes that make them ...
Brain scans show that dogs do understand human speech
[S]cientists in Hungary...have published a groundbreaking study that found dogs understand both the meaning of words and the intonation used to ...
Kuwait’s DNA collection law could lead to mass deportations
[A]fter an ISIS-linked man ignited a bomb in a Shiite mosque in Kuwait [in 2015], killing 27, the [government is thinking ...
Origins of Ashkenazi Jewry clearer once more genetic information examined
["]The Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) population is important in medical genetics due to its high rate of Mendelian disorders and other ...
Piecing together how Lucy, world’s most famous fossil, perished
In 1974, scientists working in Ethiopia uncovered an extraordinary female skeleton, whom they called Lucy. She was 3.2 million years ...
Specific genes linked to size and shape of the face
[I]n a new study, researchers tried to make sense of how a person's genes are linked to his or her ...
Gene variant may influence coffee consumption by slowing metabolism
A gene that appears to wield influence over the amount of coffee people drink has been found by scientists who ...
Key to defeating aging may lie in those with Laron syndrome
In [Lojo]...live a number of people — about 100 — with a special trait: They seem to be protected from ...
Gene editing may eventually bring superhuman athletes
At the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games, some of the fastest and strongest people in the world showed us what ...
Human inventions may impact and change our genes over time
Of all living things, why do humans alone create advanced technology? A clue comes from a recent paper on a ...
As the age of mother’s has increased, twin births have skyrocketed
Twins are very much in our consciousness at the moment...because we are living through a twin boom. A higher proportion ...
Losing genes may contribute to evolution just as much as gaining them
Traditionally, but incorrectly, an assumption exists that more complex organisms have larger genomes. As a result, biologists have tended to ...
Is domination of running by African descended athletes genetic or cultural?
[T]he white American liberal tends to worry that even talking about innate athletic aptitudes risks bolstering racist views – since ...
Drug effectiveness depends on genetics
A Victoria University molecular geneticist says a wider range of drugs may need to be made available to ensure Maori ...
Mitochondrial DNA reveals what Iceman Oetzi wore 5,300 years ago
DNA analysis of Oetzi the Iceman's clothes has traced their origin to at least five different species of animal. Among ...
Two genes linked to enhanced breast cancer survival identified
Testing for the activity of two genes could pick out women who are at increased risk of dying from their ...
Brains of schizophrenics may repair themselves over time
[Psychiatrist] Lena Palaniyappan...and other mental health professionals have noticed is that, unlike those with degenerative neurological disorders[,]...sometimes schizophrenia patients eventually start ...
Genes help Latinos age slower than other ethnic groups
Latinos age slower than any other ethnicity, a study has found. Scientists refer to the phenomenon as the 'Hispanic paradox', ...
Cancer survivors at high risk to develop obesity
A recent report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology presents some puzzling news — survivors of some types of cancer ...
Genetic evidence identifies schizophrenia as ‘modern’ disease
Schizophrenia is a "modern" disease, which developed after humans diverged from Neanderthals, between 300,000 and 700,000 years ago. Scientists say ...
Do East African distance runners dominate races due to genetics?
More than 10,000 athletes from 206 different nations will compete for glory in [the 2016] Olympic Games...But when it comes ...
Kenyans sweep distance races, Jamaicans sprints: How evolution has shaped elite sports
The results of the Rio Olympics, especially in track and field events, reinforce the now widely accepted theory that evolution ...
Gene mutation linked to aggression and healthy body weight
Acting aggressive and reckless when drunk could be a sign that you’re a complete jerk, or it could be an ...
Genetics key to why world’s greatest solo climber doesn’t feel fear
[Alex] Honnold is history’s greatest ever climber in the free solo style, meaning he ascends without a rope or protective ...
Scientists may have found gene behind hyper-sociability
[H]umans are social beings, an evolutionary trait that helped separate us from other primates millions of years ago...These genetic underpinnings ...
End sex segregation in sport competitions? That denies genetic facts
From New York Times: What if, in some dystopian swim universe, [ace swimmer Katie] Ledecky was told that...she would have ...
