The Y chromosome may be a symbol of masculinity, but it is becoming increasingly clear that it is anything but strong and enduring. Although it carries the "master switch" gene, SRY, that determines whether an embryo will ...
Evolution
Jul 13, 2020
0
627
CRISPR-Cas9 is the go-to technique for knocking out genes in human cell lines to discover what the genes do, but the efficiency with which it disables genes can vary immensely.
Biotechnology
Aug 17, 2016
0
172
Despite the sheer number of genes that each human cell contains, these so-called "coding" DNA sequences comprise just 1% of our entire genome. The remaining 99% is made up of "non-coding" DNA—which, unlike coding DNA, does ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 9, 2022
2
268
The extinction of prehistoric megafauna like the woolly mammoth, cave lion, and woolly rhinoceros at the end of the last ice age has often been attributed to the spread of early humans across the globe. Although overhunting ...
Archaeology
Aug 13, 2020
6
1842
It's one of the greatest mysteries of modern science: how did life begin exactly? While most scientists believe that all lifeforms evolved from a common, primitive ancestor microorganism, the details are blurry. What kinds ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 26, 2016
20
1975
Modern civilization relies on water's incompressibility—it's something we take for granted. Hydraulic systems harness the virtual non-compressibility of fluids like water or oil to multiply mechanical force. Bulldozers, ...
Nanophysics
Jul 2, 2018
0
858
A team of Johns Hopkins University researchers has developed a new software that could revolutionize how DNA is sequenced, making it far faster and less expensive to map anything from yeast genomes to cancer genes.
Biotechnology
Dec 3, 2020
0
1167
The field of evolutionary biology has seen its share of spirited debates. But if there's one principle that virtually every expert in the field agrees on, it's that natural selection occurs at the level of the genome.
Evolution
Jan 16, 2020
9
1870
Humans have a "natural" lifespan of around 38 years, according to a new method we have developed for estimating the lifespans of different species by analyzing their DNA.
Plants & Animals
Dec 13, 2019
15
913
Her computer, Karin Strauss says, contains her "digital attic"—a place where she stores that published math paper she wrote in high school, and computer science schoolwork from college.
Computer Sciences
Jul 23, 2016
2
1822
