Are Male Genes From Mars, Female Genes From Venus? Sex Differences in Health and Disease
Males and females share the vast majority of their genomes. Only a sprinkling of genes, located on the so-called X and Y sex chromosomes, differ…
DNA
Rare Dragon DNA: Sequencing the Genome of an Ancient Reptile
New Zealand is home to an astonishingly rich web of life, with many indigenous plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth. Even amid…
Extracting Ancient DNA of Long-Extinct Plants and Animals From Soil
A much richer picture of the past revealed with new DNA recovery technique. Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new technique to tease ancient…
A New Twist on DNA Origami: Meta-DNA Structures Transform the DNA Nanotechnology World
A team* of scientists from ASU and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) led by Hao Yan, ASU’s Milton Glick Professor in the School of Molecular…
Climate Change Drove Mastodons to Migrate Vast Distances Back and Forth Across North America
New ancient DNA study finds that Northern mastodon populations were less genetically diverse and more vulnerable to extinction. New research suggests that American mastodons were…
Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Viruses Can Steal Our Genetic Code to Create New Human-Virus Genes
Study unveils novel mechanism that allows viruses to produce unexpected proteins. Like a scene out of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” a virus infects a…
Shocking Research Finds DNA From an Ancient, Unidentified Ancestor Was Passed Down to Humans Living Today
New algorithm suggests that early humans and related species interbred early and often. A new analysis of ancient genomes suggests that different branches of the…
Powerful DNA Manipulation: Improved Gene Editing With New Understanding of CRISPR-Cas9 Tool
Cryo-EM captures CRISPR-Cas9 base editor in action. Within a mere eight years, CRISPR-Cas9 has become the go-to genome editor for both basic research and gene…
Solving a DNA Mystery: “The Bizarre Thing About the Bubbling DNA”
Exposure to enzymes causes peculiar response in liquid droplets formed by DNA; new study explains mechanisms behind it. “A watched pot never boils,” as the…
Encyclopedia Created to Detail the Inner Workings of the Human and Mouse Genomes
ENCODE Project’s third phase offers new insights into the organization and regulation of our genes and genome. The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project is…
DNA From Skeletons in Mass Grave Provides Evidence of Smallpox in the Viking Age
The fatal disease smallpox is older and more widespread than scientists so far have proved. A new study by an international team of researchers from…
From Earth to Mars: Rosalind Franklin’s Century of Science
If Rosalind Franklin had had a birthday wish, she probably never would have dreamed of having her name roving on Mars. As the world celebrates…
Quadruple Helix DNA Formation Tracked in Live Human Cells for the First Time
The formation of four-stranded DNA has been tracked in living human cells, allowing scientists to see how it works, and its possible role in cancer….
Meet Cosmo, a Bull Calf Genetically Designed to Produce 75% Male Offspring
Scientists Use CRISPR Technology to Insert Sex-Determining Gene. Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have successfully produced a bull calf, named Cosmo, who was…
Using 23andMe African Ancestry Data to Reexamine the History of Slavery
The effects of the forced deportation of over 10 million African people during the transatlantic slave trade remain entrenched in the DNA of people from…
Pioneering Research Reveals Certain Human Genes Relate to Gut Bacteria
The role genetics and gut bacteria play in human health has long been a fruitful source of scientific enquiry, but new research marks a significant…
Landmark Achievement for Genomics Researchers: First Complete Assembly of Human X Chromosome
The first end-to-end (‘telomere-to-telomere’) completely gapless DNA sequence of a human chromosome is a major milestone for genomics research. Although the current human reference genome…
Neural Vulnerability in Huntington’s Disease Tied to Immune Response to Genetic Material
In the first study to comprehensively track how different types of brain cells respond to the mutation that causes Huntington’s disease (HD), MIT neuroscientists found…