Can living organisms influence changes in their genes?

The change of genetic information over time is a key factor for evolutionary adaptations with which living beings can adapt to changes in their environment. On the one hand, genetic variability arises in the course of reproduction, ...

Low genetic diversity in two manatee species off South America

Worldwide, marine megafauna are at risk of extinction due to climate change, habitat loss, pollution, overhunting, population fragmentation, and hybridization with related species in areas disturbed by humans. Genetic studies ...

How squash agriculture spread bees in pre-Columbian North America

Using genetic markers, researchers have for the first time shown how cultivating a specific crop led to the expansion of a pollinator species. In this case, the researchers found that the spread of a bee species in pre-Columbian ...

When fruit flies get sick, their offspring become more diverse

New research from North Carolina State University and Reed College shows that when fruit flies are attacked by parasites or bacteria they respond by producing offspring with greater genetic variability. This extra genetic ...

The coelacanth leads a monogamous life

Scientists have successfully analyzed the genetic make-up of the offspring of pregnant coelacanth females for the first time. They found that the likelihood that the offspring is fathered by one single individual is very ...

Tasmanian tiger suffered low genomic diversity

The enigmatic Tasmanian tiger, known also as the thylacine, was hunted to extinction in the wild at the turn of the 20th century, and the last one died in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936.

Mother of all humans lived 200,000 years ago

The most robust statistical examination to date of our species' genetic links to "mitochondrial Eve" -- the maternal ancestor of all living humans -- confirms that she lived about 200,000 years ago. The Rice University study ...

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