In the middle of the South Atlantic, there’s a patch of sea almost devoid of life. There are no birds, few fish, not even much plankton. But researchers report that they’ve found buried treasure under the empty waters: ancient DNA hidden in the muck of the sea floor, which lies 5000 meters below the waves. The DNA, from tiny, one-celled…
From Ireland to Turkey, Europeans are all related, sharing a link with ancestors who were alive just 1,000 years ago, according to a new genetic study. Peter Ralph and Graham Coop of the University of California used genomic data for 2,257 Europeans to conduct the first such study of an entire continent. In recent years, genetics has combined with archaeology and…
Artist and Phd student, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, finds and photographs DNA samples out in public, collecting everything from hair to chewed gum and cigarettes. She then sequences the DNA, extracting information about certain traits related to outward appearance (e.g. gender, eye-color, ancestry). Dewey-Hagborg then feeds this information into a computer program that uses the details to create a 3D model of…
Dr Helena Cronin, co-director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics, discusses “sexuality after genetics”. Why are males and females so different? Why would one identical twin be gay while the other is straight? Dr Cronin, who specialises in the genetics of gender and sexuality, also explains why she thinks there…
To the surprise of scientists, the most dangerous cancers of the uterine lining closely resemble the worst ovarian and breast cancers, raising the tantalizing possibility that the three deadly cancers might respond to the same drugs. This finding, part of a major new study, is the best evidence yet that cancer will increasingly be seen as a disease defined by its…
In the latest edition of the open access journal PLoS Biology, a group of UK biologists has detailed new insights into the differences and similarities between flowering plants’ petal and leaf formation. Roses are the perfect example of how the same plant can grow pointed leaves, but fan-shaped petals use a similar signaling process, according to the researchers. The group, led…