Genetics
- Plants
How female ferns make younger neighbors male
Precocious female ferns release a partly formed sexual-identity hormone, and nearby laggards finish it and go masculine.
- Genetics
Easter Islanders sailed to Americas, DNA suggests
Genetic ties among present-day populations point to sea crossings centuries before European contact with Easter Island.
- Humans
Oldest human DNA narrows time of Neandertal hookups
A 45,000-year-old Siberian bone provides genetic clues about the timing of interbreeding between ancient humans and Neandertals.
- Humans
Anglo-Saxons left language, but maybe not genes to modern Britons
Modern Britons may be more closely related to Britain’s indigenous people than they are to the Anglo-Saxons, a new genetic analysis finds.
- Genetics
Camels’ number of humps may affect their fat storage
The number of humps camels and alpacas have may play a role in how well they store and break down fat.
- Genetics
Gene variant helps dog evade muscular dystrophy
A dog that has a mutation causing muscular dystrophy has another genetic variant that appears to counteract the disease.
- Genetics
House fly’s genome hints at detox genes
The house fly's DNA instructions include extra genes that may help detoxify and decompose animal waste.
- Health & Medicine
Impotence drug boosts insulin in some with diabetes
A drug called yohimbine lets some people with diabetes secrete more insulin by stopping pancreas cells from binding adrenaline molecules.
- Genetics
Yeast smell underpins partnership with fruit flies
Yeast make fruity aromas that draw flies, which disperse the fungi. Researchers reveal the gene that underpins the mutually beneficial relationship.
- Animals
Monarch butterflies’ ancestors migrated
The earliest monarch butterflies originated in North America and were migratory. Some of the insects later lost that ability as they moved into the tropics, a genetic analysis finds.
- Genetics
Genetic data rewrite the prehistory of Europe
The genomes of nine ancient and 2,345 living humans have changed the story of modern Europeans' origins.
- Life
Vagina bacteria make molecules that could be drugs
Microbes on the human body are capable of producing thousands of small molecules that hold potential as drugs.
