Genetics
- Life
Losing genes may have helped whales’ ancestors adapt to life under the sea
Jettisoning genes tied to saliva and the lungs, among others, could have smoothed ancient cetaceans’ land-to-water transition 50 million years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Disabling one protein might one day lead to a cure for the common cold
Scientists have identified a protein in humans that some viruses, including those that cause colds, need to spread.
- Plants
Why tumbleweeds may be more science fiction than Old West
A tumbleweed is just a maternal plant corpse giving her living seeds a chance at a good life somewhere new.
- Humans
Ancient DNA reveals the first glimpse of what a Denisovan may have looked like
A controversial technique reconstructs a teenage Denisovan’s physical appearance from genetics.
- Humans
DNA indicates how ancient migrations shaped South Asian languages and farming
Farming in the region may have sprung up locally, while herders from afar sparked language changes.
- Anthropology
This ancient Denisovan finger bone is surprisingly humanlike
Despite Neandertal ties, extinct hominids called Denisovans had a touching link to humans, a new study finds.
- Genetics
There’s no evidence that a single ‘gay gene’ exists
Many genetic factors with small effects combine with one’s environment to influence sexual behavior, researchers say.
- Humans
India’s Skeleton Lake contains the bones of mysterious European migrants
Not all of the hundreds of skeletons found at a north Indian lake are from the same place or period. What killed any of these people is still unknown.
- Life
CRISPR enters its first human clinical trials
The gene editor will be used in lab dishes in cancer and blood disorder trials, and to directly edit a gene in human eyes in a blindness therapy test.
- Animals
There’s more to pufferfish than that goofy spiked balloon
Three odd things about pufferfishes: how they mate, how they bite and what’s up with no fish scales?
- Genetics
This gene may help worms live longer, but not healthier
Antiaging therapies may have trade-offs, research on worms suggests.
- Animals
Ground beetle genitals have the genetic ability to get strange. They don’t
A new look at the genetics of sex organs finds underpinnings of conflicts over genital size.
