Heritability explains fast-learning chicks

Both genetic and environmental factors explain cognitive traits, shows a new study carried out on red junglefowl. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have shown that the ability of fowl to cope with difficult learning ...

Unraveling what genomics can do

It took nearly 10,000 years of breeding to take maize from a tropical crop with thumb-sized ears to the high-yielding Midwest crop of today. But in just the next decade, new corn varieties will likely have higher levels of ...

Sheep gene study may help breed healthier animals

Fresh insights into the genetic code of sheep could aid breeding programmes to improve their health and productivity. Scientists have mapped which genes are turned on and off in the different tissues and organs in a sheep's ...

High-tech boost for beef producers

The farmers of the future will soon have a new tool at their disposal. Within two years, an artificial intelligence system trained to recognise indicators of animal condition will take its place in the yards of livestock ...

Human faces are so variable because we evolved to look unique

The amazing variety of human faces – far greater than that of most other animals – is the result of evolutionary pressure to make each of us unique and easily recognizable, according to a new study by University of California, ...

Genetic mix could benefit colonising plants and animals

(Phys.org) —Recently evaluated evidence suggests that organisms bred from different genetic lines have evolutionary advantages over more closely related members of the same species when colonising new environments.

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