The oldest DNA ever found reveals a snapshot of a vanished world
At the icy northern tip of Greenland, far into the Artic Circle, a deep bed of sediment beneath the mouth of a fjord has lain frozen and undisturbed for 2 million years.
At the icy northern tip of Greenland, far into the Artic Circle, a deep bed of sediment beneath the mouth of a fjord has lain frozen and undisturbed for 2 million years.
Evolution
Dec 8, 2022
0
12
Tropical coral reefs are among the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. In addition to climate change, coral-eating crown-of-thorns sea stars (Acanthaster spp.) pose one of the biggest threats in parts of the Indo-Pacific ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 17, 2022
0
3
Corals bred in public aquaria provide novel research opportunities and a healthy stock for outplanting into the wild, essential components of a thriving future for coral reef ecosystems, which support around 25% of all life ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 14, 2022
0
239
Small differences in DNA sequence contribute to heritable variations within a species, as do chemical modifications of DNA called epigenetic changes. In order to better understand the significance of such epigenetic changes ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 9, 2022
0
10
Hybrids of two common North American songbirds, the black-capped and mountain chickadee, are more likely to be found in places where humans have altered the landscape in some way, finds new University of Colorado Boulder ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2022
0
90
The first genetic data from Paleolithic human individuals in the U.K.—the oldest human DNA obtained from the British Isles so far—indicates the presence of two distinct groups that migrated to Britain at the end of the ...
Archaeology
Oct 24, 2022
0
191
Genetic and genomic technologies have tremendous potential for protecting marine life, but are currently being underutilized, argue Madeleine van Oppen of the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Melbourne ...
Ecology
Oct 17, 2022
0
7
A new study led by the University of Tasmania—with the participation of the University of Bonn—discovered the oldest marine DNA in deep-sea sediments of the Scotia Sea north of the Antarctic continent. The material could ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 5, 2022
0
181
For the first time, a Nobel Prize recognized the field of anthropology, the study of humanity. Svante Pääbo, a pioneer in the study of ancient DNA, or aDNA, was awarded the 2022 prize in physiology or medicine for his breathtaking ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Oct 5, 2022
0
26
Scientists have long known that no-till farming reduces erosion and lessens water and nutrient runoff from crop fields, but now a new study by a team of Penn State researchers suggests that limiting soil disturbance may also ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 15, 2022
0
19