What makes humans unique? Scientists have taken another step toward solving an enduring mystery with a new tool that may allow for more precise comparisons between the DNA of modern humans and that of our extinct ancestors.
Biotechnology
Jul 16, 2021
22
6607
Scientists have discovered hundreds of unusually large, bacteria-killing viruses with capabilities normally associated with living organisms, blurring the line between living microbes and viral machines.
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 12, 2020
12
2355
Microbes are foundational for life on Earth. These tiny organisms play a major role in everything from transforming sunlight into the fundamental molecules of life. They help to produce much of the oxygen in our atmosphere. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 30, 2023
0
174
Using new genetic tools, the authors conclude that the first significant expansion of human populations appears to be much older than the emergence of farming and herding, dating back to the Paleolithic (60,000-80,000 years ...
Archaeology
Sep 24, 2013
3
1
Sequencing a genome is getting cheaper, but making sense of the resulting data remains hard. Researchers have now found a new way to extract useful information out of sequenced DNA.
Biotechnology
Jul 11, 2019
0
750
Alongside Dennis van Engelsdorp, associate professor at the University of Maryland (UMD) in Entomology named for the fifth year in a row for his work in honey bee and pollinator health, Yiping Qi, associate professor in Plant ...
Biotechnology
Jan 22, 2021
0
151
Out of the estimated 23,000 or more genes in the human genome, about 100 of them will differ—they will be present or not—between any two individuals. Genes lost or gained over time result from evolution and adaptation, ...
Biotechnology
Aug 9, 2013
0
0
CRISPR-Cas9, the "genetic scissors," creates new potential for curing diseases, but treatments must be reliable. In a new study, researchers have discovered that the method can give rise to unforeseen changes in DNA that ...
Biotechnology
Feb 2, 2022
0
79
Have agriculture, technology, diet and lifestyle changes put humans out of touch with the way we evolved? And would we be healthier and happier if we lived, at least to some extent, the way our Paleolithic ancestors did?
Evolution
Mar 5, 2013
7
0
Genome engineering may be the future of medicine, but it relies on evolutionary advances made billions of years ago in primordial bacteria, the original masters of gene editing.
Evolution
Sep 27, 2023
0
39
