National Geographic
Do animals inherit basic memories through sperm, epigenetics?
New research from scientists at Emory University suggests that mice inherit specific smell memories from their fathers, even when the offspring have ...
Scientists demonstrate creativity of natural selection with E. coli research
Biologists at Michigan State University have frozen 50,000 generations of E. coli over the past 25 years to demonstrate Darwin’s ...
A virus hitched a ride in our ancestors genome, and changed human brains forever
Long ago, part of one virus's genome merged with the human genome. Now it's in each of us, helping to ...
Mutations in the brain
Not all genetic mutations are harmful. New research shows that mutations within neurons may be incredibly common, and even sometimes ...
Do you share a haplogroup with Dracula?
Some Halloween fans take costuming to a whole other level. The wig will be just right, the make-up impeccable, the ...
Ötzi the Iceman stirs up enthusiasm for genetics
The popularity of recent news reports on the DNA of the mummy Ötzi remind us that genetic breakthroughs are reaching far beyond white-lab-coat ...
“Jumping DNA” explains why humans are less genetically diverse than chimps
Our genome isn’t static; some of it can move about. We’re loaded with stretches of DNA that can copy themselves ...
“Find and Replace” across an entire genome
It couldn’t be easier to make sweeping edits on a computer document. If I were so inclined, I could find ...
Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome: a deadly virus drizzle
Researchers study the genetics of an emerging respiratory virus to see if has the potential to become a widespread scourge ...
Tiger genome shows big cats evolved to kill
The first sequenced tiger genome shows that big cats evolved to kill. Genes for strong muscle fibers and for meat-eating appear narrowly shared, ...
GM or organic farming: Which will sustain a growing nation?
In a place where population growth is moving incredibly fast, added pressure on farmers in India in the wake of ...
New “tiniest genome” identified
In August 2013, in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, Gordon Bennett and Nancy Moran describe a new record holder, called Nasuia deltocephalinicola. It ...
Hope for a species: Przewalski’s horse born via artificial insemination
Przewalski's horses are rare and endangered wild horses native to Mongolia. They were declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s, ...
Cataloguing Earth’s genetics, to cure disease and reverse extinction
Researchers at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History are helping to tackle Earth's remaining 1.3 million species through a project known ...
Shutting down the extra chromosome in Down’s syndrome
Researchers have shut down the third, extra, Down's-syndrome-causing copy of the 21st chromosome in human cells ...
So science might have gotten it wrong… Now what?
The following is an edited excerpt. This week I learned about an unfolding scientific debate that’s got me thinking about ...
Listening to the genome: music or noise?
How do we separate the signal from the noise in our "junk"-filled genomes? ...
Takeaways from last week’s gene patenting decision
The following is an edited excerpt. The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling that bans the patenting of naturally occurring ...
Bad science about GE foods: It reminds me of the antivaccine movement (revisited)
The following is an edited excerpt. I never used to write much about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) before. I still ...
Tracing breast cancer’s history
The following is an edited excerpt of a longer story. In today’s New York Times, the actress Angelina Jolie published a remarkably ...
The lurker: How a virus hid in our genome for six million years
The following is an excerpt of a longer story. In the mid-2000s, David Markovitz, a scientist at the University of ...
A minimalist genome: Sometimes “junk” DNA really is junk
Whether or not "junk" DNA is actually useful has been a topic of debate. A new paper in Nature examining ...
Charlemagne for everyone! Royal DNA all around
Everyone who lived a thousand years ago who has any descendants today is an ancestor of every European ...
The evolution of prenatal disease
Scientists have begun to tease apart the interactions between evolution, genetics, disease, and pregnancy ...
The jumping gene: Friend or foe?
The following is an edited excerpt. In the 1940s, geneticist Barbara McClintock of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York wanted ...
Modern Europe’s genetic history starts in Stone Age
The following is an excerpt. Europeans as a people are younger than we thought, a new study suggests. DNA recovered from ...
Nobel Prize-winning biologist Francois Jacob has died
The following is an excerpt. One day in July 1958, François Jacob squirmed in a Paris movie theater. His wife, ...
The womb’s strange epigenome
The following is an excerpt. This week, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesdescribes a little-known feature ...