Environmental human DNA offers new opportunities for public good

In May, University of Florida scientists announced that they had unearthed high-quality, information-rich human DNA from nearly every spot they could think of. Rivers, beaches, oceans—even vacuumed up from the air.

Evolutionary forces shape the human skeleton

Genetic kinship analyses of human bones reach their limits if the DNA is poorly preserved or if destructive sampling is not possible. New research shows that in such cases, comparisons of the structure and shape of certain ...

Learning how to control HIV from African genomes

A study on almost four thousand people of African descent has identified a gene that acts as natural defense against HIV by limiting its replication in certain white blood cells. An international effort co-led by EPFL, Canada's ...

How plant biology research could inform COVID-19 treatments

Investigating the building blocks of biology can lead to unexpected outcomes. That's what happened when researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory were exploring plant genetics. Although their ...

New insights into the evolution of the plague pathogen

The origins of the plague go back to the Neolithic Age, with the oldest findings of the causative pathogen Yersinia pestis coming from human bones around 5,000 years old. In the history of the plague, the late antique Justinianic ...

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