Genetics

Genetics

Special report: Genetic testing goes mainstream

Consumer genetic tests may not tell customers that much about themselves. Science News delves into these tests in a multipart series.

Genetics

What genetic tests from 23andMe, Veritas and Genos really told me about my health

A Science News reporter tried out three consumer genetic testing companies to see what people really learn about their health.

Genetics

Consumer DNA testing promises more than it delivers

Chances are your DNA doesn’t contain dark secrets. But there may be lots of variety in results from testing company to company.

Anthropology

Ancient Chinese farmers sowed literal seeds of change in Southeast Asia

Two waves of ancient migration from China to Southeast Asia spread farming and languages.

Science & Society

We’ve got the genes for science journalism

Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses how genetic testing might not be reliable enough for people to plan for the future.

Life

There’s a genetic explanation for why warmer nests turn turtles female

Scientists have found a temperature-responsive gene that controls young turtles’ sex fate.

Animals

Here’s how to use DNA to find elusive sharks

Hard-to-find sharks that divers and cameras miss appear in genetic traces in the ocean.

Genetics

Adapting to life in the north may have been a real headache

A cold-sensing protein has adapted to different local climates, also affecting risk of migraine.

Particle Physics

Readers puzzled by particle physics and a papal decree

Readers had questions about neutrinoless double beta decay and the history of domesticated rabbits.

Plants

New genetic details may help roses come up smelling like, well, roses

A detailed genetic look at China roses and an old European species shows that there’s a built-in trade-off between color and scent.

Genetics

New genetic sleuthing tools helped track down the Golden State Killer suspect

DNA sleuths may have adapted new techniques for identifying John and Jane Does to track down a serial killer suspect.

Plants

Genetically modified plant may boost supply of a powerful malaria drug

Using a DNA study and genetic engineering, researchers tripled the amount of an antimalarial compound naturally produced by sweet wormwood plants.