Topic: Genetics

Top galleries, list articles, quizzes

Celebrity memoir quiz

Which celebrity said what in his or her memoir?
12 books Seth Godin thinks you should read

Nonprofit group TED asks some of the world's most fascinating thinkers to share both ideas and reading lists. Here's a list of the 12 books recommended by entrepreneur and marketing guru Seth Godin.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 02/11
3 good books for February reading

In a short month packed with long, cool nights, what better diversion than a good book? Here are three February releases we think you will like.
What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings about Saturn's moon

This year the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has performed eight flybys of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Here are some of this year's eye-popping discoveries associated with Cassini's observations of Titan.

All Content

Decoding tomato DNA: Genetics could yield sweeter fruit

Knowing the genetic sequence of one tomato can help seed companies and plant breeders get a grasp on what makes different varieties, like heirloom tomatoes, different from the generic grocery tomato.
Horsehair helps locate the origins of domestication

A new study points to the area made up of Kazhakstan, Russia and Ukraine as the region that was home to the first domesticated horses.
Did a copying mistake give rise to human intelligence?

New research suggests that a copying error found in humans seems to distinguish human brains from those of primates.
How did European farmers spread agriculture?

By analyzing ancient human remains, scientists have revealed that Stone Age farmers in Europe likely migrated from south to north.
Polar bears emerged far earlier than thought, DNA study indicates (+video)

Polar bears were previously thought to have split from brown bears some 150,000 years ago. But a study of the bears' mitochondrial DNA indicates that they became a distinct species about 600,000 years ago.
Stressed-out monkeys show it in their genes (+video)

A new study demonstrates a link between social class and genetics in non-human primates.
Vikings spread mouse species to Greenland, Newfoundland, study finds

A genetic study of house mice suggests that the species was spread by Vikings between the eighth and 10th centuries.
Change Agent
Fast-track breeding could bring a second Green Revolution

Green revolution: Fast-track breeding is beginning to develop crops that can produce more and healthier food – without controversial genetic engineering.
Humans, gorillas more alike than previously thought, say scientists

Fifteen percent of humans and chimp DNA is closer to that to gorillas than to each other, a new study finds.
Gorillas are more like humans than we knew, study says

New research has shown that humans are more like gorillas than scientists previously understood. 15 percent of human DNA is more similar to gorillas than to chimps.
The Circle Bastiat
Why we're paying more for corn

Thanks to government subsidies supporting a specific type of corn farm, land value is increasing, and prices are going up. The same is true of other federally supported crops.
Men not on verge of extinction, report scientists

A new study suggests that the Y chromosome, previously thought to be evolving into oblivion, will persist.
Will men go extinct? New research says it's unlikely.

A recent study from the Whitehead Institute indicates that the male Y chromosome is unlikely to disappear, as was previously thought.
Is Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show dissing shelter dogs? (+video)

The 2012 Westminster Kennel Club show is, er, dogged by controversy after dumping its long-time sponsor Pedigree over dog food ads that promote the adoption of sad-eyed shelter dogs.
Can a spider web hold clues for better buildings? Science takes a step.

A research team has discovered how spider silk responds to stress. The results of the spider web study appear in the Thursday issue of the journal Nature.
Chapter & Verse
Apple announces iBooks2, a new textbook program for iPad

Apple's new textbooks for iPad will let students zoom and rotate images, watch movies, and even complete tasks like dissecting frogs
Chimeric macaques give new meaning to phrase, 'I'll be a monkey's uncle'

Scientists have created baby rhesus macaques with cells from genomes of as many of six different monkeys, giving new insight into the capabilities of stem cells.
How genetically engineered caterpillars spin silk stronger than steel

A research team has genetically altered silkworms to spin spider silk proteins, resulting in a fiber that is stronger than steel that can also be mass produced.
Celebrity memoir quiz

Which celebrity said what in his or her memoir?
Nobel Prize winner dies just days before he won

The 2011 Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to scientists in the US and France for uncovering triggers that activate an organism's immune system. One recipient died just days before the announcement.
Are we all extraterrestrials? Scientists discover traces of DNA in space.

Fully-formed building blocks of DNA have been found in meteorites, suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for some of the chemicals deemed necessary for organic life.
Glowing dog created by Korean scientists

Glowing dog: Scientists in Korea say they have created a glowing dog and that the glow can be turned on and off.
Ethical frontiers of humanizing animals in the lab

Mice with human-language DNA? Goats with human-like organs? They already exist. A British report raises anew the dilemma of creating animals with human characteristics for the sake of medical science.
Polar bear origins: Polar bears have Irish ancestry, suggests DNA study

Polar bear origins: A study of mitochondrial DNA has found that polar bears can trace their ancestry back to an brown bear that lived in Ireland between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Humans evolving slower than previously thought, study finds

A study of the genomes of two families has found that the number of mutations thought to occur each generation had been overestimated, suggesting that the pace of human evolution is slower than scientists had thought.