We all know at least one of those so-called “born competitors.” It’s the coworker who’s obsessed with beating everyone else in sales each month. It’s the guy at the gym who always picks weights that are 10 pounds heavier than yours. Whether you thrive from the pressure of being pitted against your peers, or it leaves you with a racing…
A new genetic analysis of hundreds of American dog breeds reveals that the canines’ ancient roots trace back to Asia. On average, less than 30 percent of their DNA comes from Europe, suggesting dogs came to the Americas with the ancient humans who established pre-Columbian civilizations. The study also found that the Chihuahua really does come from an ancient lineage of dogs…
Is Antarctica’s Lake Vostok a prehistoric aquarium populated by exotic fishes and crustaceans? A study now hints at the possibility. But the idea that the pitch-dark lake might host complex animals — as some media reports have suggested — is vastly premature, leading researchers warn. Nestled beneath a glacier 4,000 metres thick, Lake Vostok is the largest of hundreds of…
Christopher Carr, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences is working in collaboration with Gary Ruvkun at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Maria Zuber, the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and MIT’s vice president for research, to build a DNA sequencer that he hopes will one day be sent to Mars where it can analyze…
Last month Connor Levy was the first child to be born in the US using next-generation sequencing (NGS), a technique that uses computer software to scan and count DNA fragments to ensure the correct number of chromosomes are present and identify any defects within 16 hours. Other techniques for screening embryos do exist but these are extremely costly and are quite specific.…
Currently, roughly 20 percent of humanity’s caloric intake comes from wheat. Agricultural strains, specialized for bread or pasta production, have been bred for high productivity and resistance to many agricultural pests. But over the past few years, one of those pests, a fungus called wheat stem rust, has evolved the ability to overcome wheat’s defenses. Dangerous strains of wheat stem…