USDA-ARS releases genome of the voracious desert locust

The first high-quality genome of the desert locust—those voracious feeders of plague and devastation infamy and the most destructive migratory insect in the world—has been produced by U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural ...

First Pompeiian human genome sequenced

The first successfully sequenced human genome from an individual who died in Pompeii, Italy, after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is presented this week in a study published in Scientific Reports. Prior to this, ...

Prehistoric humans rarely mated with their cousins

Today, more than 10 percent of all global marriages occur among first or second cousins. While cousin-marriages are common practice in some societies, unions between close relatives are discouraged in others. In a new study, ...

Pack rat nests offer first look at ancient insect DNA

For many years, scientists have been extracting DNA from the bones of ancient humans, humanoids and animals to paint a picture of evolution and species movement. Despite what's been portrayed in the movie "Jurassic Park"—in ...

DNA reveals the evolutionary history of museum specimens

Museum specimens held in natural history collections around the world represent a wealth of underutilized genetic information due to the poor state of preservation of the DNA, which often makes it difficult to sequence. An ...

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