Genetics
- Science & Society
Scientists are fixing flawed forensics that can lead to wrongful convictions
People have been wrongly jailed for forensic failures. Scientists are working to improve police lineups, fingerprinting and even DNA analysis.
- Genetics
Thomas Cech’s ‘The Catalyst’ spotlights RNA and its superpowers
Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Thomas Cech’s new book is part ode to RNA and part detailed history of the scientists who’ve studied it.
- Genetics
50 years ago, chimeras gave a glimpse of gene editing’s future
Advances in gene editing technology have led to the first successful transplant of a pig kidney into a human.
- Life
The largest known genome belongs to a tiny fern
Though 'Tmesipteris oblanceolata' is just 15 centimeters long, its genome dwarfs humans’ by more than 50 times.
- Genetics
Here’s why some pigeons do backflips
Meet the scientist homing in on the genes involved in making parlor roller pigeons do backward somersaults.
- Genetics
A genetic parasite may explain why humans and other apes lack tails
Around 25 million years ago, a stretch of DNA inserted itself into an ancestral ape’s genome, an event that might have taken our tails away.
- Neuroscience
Ancient viruses helped speedy nerves evolve
A retrovirus embedded in the DNA of some vertebrates helps turn on production of a protein needed to insulate nerve cells, aiding speedy thoughts.
- Health & Medicine
Newfound immune cells are responsible for long-lasting allergies
A specialized type of immune cell appears primed to make the type of antibodies that lead to allergies, two research groups report.
- Science & Society
Geneticist Krystal Tsosie advocates for Indigenous data sovereignty
A member of the Navajo Nation, she believes Indigenous geneticists have a big role to play in protecting and studying their own data.
- Genetics
How ancient herders rewrote northern Europeans’ genetic story
New DNA analyses show the extent of the Yamnaya people’s genetic reach starting 5,000 years ago and how it made descendants prone to diseases like MS.
- Health & Medicine
Fetuses make a protein that causes morning sickness in pregnancy
A hormone called GDF15 triggers a part of the brain involved in nausea and vomiting, a new study finds. Blocking its action may lead to treatments.
- Health & Medicine
Why Huntington’s disease may take so long to develop
Repeated bits of the disease-causing gene pile up in some brain cells. New treatments could involve stopping the additions.
