Genetics
- Chemistry
Pathway pieced together to make opiates in yeast
Scientists have engineered yeast to make sugar into thebaine, a precursor to opiates such as morphine.
- Genetics
How an octopus’s cleverness may have evolved
Scientists have sequenced the octopus genome, revealing molecular similarities to mammals.
- Genetics
Ancestral humans had more DNA
A new genetic diversity map marks where humans have gained and lost DNA.
- Genetics
How Ethiopian highlanders adapted to breathe thin air
Lower levels of a heart protein may help Ethiopian highlanders breathe thin air, researchers report.
- Genetics
Wolves in jackals’ clothing
Africa’s golden jackals are really a species of wolf and deserve a name change, DNA evidence indicates.
- Life
The tree of life gets a makeover
Biology’s tree of life has morphed from the familiar classroom version emphasizing kingdoms into a complex depiction of supergroups, in which animals are aligned with a slew of single-celled cousins.
- Genetics
Research teams duel over Native American origins
Genetic link between Australia and the Amazon fuels two interpretations of Native American origins.
- Genetics
Melonomics: Sounds like a cancer, smells like a melon
The project that published the first melon genome dubbed itself melonomics.
- Earth
Bringing mammoths back, life on early Earth and more reader feedback
Readers debate the pros and cons of reviving extinct species, discuss the odd light-processing machinery of the eye and more.
- Genetics
Enormous quantities may soon be called ‘genomical’
Genetic data may soon reach beyond astronomical proportions.
- Genetics
Genetic switch wipes out tumors in mice
By switching on a single gene, researchers turned cancer cells in mice back into normal intestinal tissue.
- Genetics
Mutation-disease link masked in zebrafish
Zebrafish study shows organisms can work around DNA mutations.
