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Genetics

Researchers prompted around 950 A.I. agents to search through a massive DNA database.

Anthropic Says Its A.I. Discovered a New Enzyme System That Resembles the Revolutionary Gene-Editing Tool CRISPR

Experts at the company don’t know what the newfound system does, so its potential utility in biology—if any—remains unclear. But the work marks a major advancement because the A.I. made this discovery mostly on its own

Fire amoeba wiggling around at 140 degrees Fahrenheit

Meet the ‘Fire Amoeba,’ a Newfound Blobby Organism That’s Defying Expectations About How Much Heat Complex Life Can Handle

The newly described species, found in Northern California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park, can still reproduce at 145 degrees Fahrenheit and move around at 147 degrees, according to a new study

The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) is one of 1,500 species of bats around the world.

Where Did Bats Originate? Huge Genetic Study May Have Settled the Longstanding Debate and Rewritten the Creatures’ Evolutionary Tree

The flying mammals likely arose 65 million years ago in Europe, before spreading to Africa and then the rest of the world, according to the new research

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Did Thomas Jefferson Father Sally Hemings’ Children? After More Than a Decade of Research, the Answer Is Finally Firmly in Hand

A lock of hair, advances in genetic science and a community of descendants all contributed to solving an American mystery

Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a biologist and National Geographic Explorer, first encountered the new species at the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia.

Meet the Adorable and Tiny Tilcayo, the First Brand-New Cat Species Identified in More Than a Century

Discovered in a cloud forest in Bolivia, the diminutive felines are smaller than a house cat and covered in large, irregularly shaped rosettes

Between 5 and 10 percent of personality differences can be explained by the identified genetic variants, according to the study.

Part of Your Personality Is Encoded in Your Genes. Huge Analysis Links Characteristics to More Than 1,200 Common Genetic Variants

A new meta-analysis pooled data from more than one million people to look at the crossover between DNA and the “Big Five” personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism

Alfie and Bailey, the first dogs whose genes were edited so they lack the allergy-inducing protein Can f 1.

Allergic to Dogs? These Gene-Edited Beagles Could Pave the Way to Your Dream Canine Companion That Won’t Trigger Sniffles

Geneticists altered Alfie and Bailey’s DNA so that they don’t produce a major allergen. However, canines like them are not currently commercially available, and some experts express ethical concerns about altering the animals’ genes

The digital facial depiction was created by the Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University.

New Research

See the Digitally Reconstructed Face of an Ancient Man Who Witnessed England’s Greatest Upheaval

The so-called “Conquest Man” was buried in England in 1079, just over a decade into the reign of William the Conqueror. Researchers recently analyzed the skeleton’s DNA and teeth to learn more about him

The right side of the bird's body is male while the left side is female.

An ‘Extremely Rare’ Half-Male, Half-Female Bird Temporarily Took Up Residence Outside of Chicago

The unusual-looking bobolink is what’s called a bilateral gynandromorph. The bird behaved like a male, eventually wooing a mate and raising fledglings

Researchers made the discovery while studying the California two-spot octopus.

Why Are Some Octopuses So Smart? The Answer Might Lie in a Never-Before-Seen Mutation That Helps Them Accurately Build Proteins

Scientists discovered a strange feature in certain octopuses’ ribosomal RNA, molecules that create a 3D scaffold for cellular protein factories. It was found only in shallow-water creatures that have expanded nervous systems and can do complex behaviors

Redback spiders live throughout Australia.

Here’s Why These Male Spiders Sacrifice Themselves by Somersaulting Into Females’ Fangs While Mating

A new study suggest that even strange, complex animal behaviors can have a relatively simple genetic basis

Some modern humans might be taller and more muscular because of a Neanderthal-derived gene variant that affects the growth hormone pathway.

Got a Brawny Build? You Might Be Able to Thank Your Neanderthal Ancestors, According to a New Study

New research hints that some living people inherited a gene variant from Neanderthals that has made them slightly taller and more muscular than their peers

A saber-toothed cat skull found at the La Brea Tar Pits

Spinal Deformities in Saber-Toothed Cat Fossils Reveal How the Now-Extinct Felines May Have Spent Their Final Days

Researchers studied saber-toothed cat vertebrae found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. They identified a surprisingly high number of deformations, including signs of spinal nerve tumors, hinting at a dwindling population suffering the consequences of inbreeding

Previous research hinted at ghost ancestry in our DNA, but the new work helps pinpoint the timeline of when the ancient relatives' genetic material entered our genomes.

Traces of Two Extinct ‘Ghost’ Ancestors Were Found Hiding in Modern Human DNA, Hinting at Our Extremely Complex Family Tree

Researchers used a new method to investigate past interbreeding with Homo sapiens that doesn’t require ancient DNA. The technique identified areas of living humans’ genomes that came from unknown hominins, including one from a 1.8-million-year-old lineage

The experimental therapies are part of a larger movement toward personalized medicine.

After Receiving a Custom Experimental Medicine, a Teen With a Rare Genetic Disorder Walked on His Own for the First Time

The patient’s genetic disorder causes frequent seizures and developmental delays. His progress, along with that of another boy who received a similar personalized treatment, highlights the promise—and challenges—of tailor-made drugs

Handedness refers to both hand preference and hand dominance. 

People Aren’t Born as Righties or Lefties—They Develop Hand Dominance With Practice, a New Study Suggests

Humans do have a biological preference for using one side of their body, which might prime them for using limbs on that side for complex motor tasks like writing—and honing those skills over time

Graves of unidentified soldiers who died at the Battle of Camden

DNA Reveals the Identity of a Teenager Who Died in the Revolutionary War, Cracking a Nearly 250-Year-Old Cold Case

John Pumphrey was still a boy when he enlisted in the Continental Army in 1777. After archaeologists discovered his remains, a genetic genealogy analysis identified 20,000 DNA matches for living relatives

Left: a burial mound in Kazakhstan. Right: the Golden Man's head ornaments.

Kazakhstan’s Iron Age ‘Golden Man’ and Other Elite Scythians of Eurasia Inherited Their High Social Status, Ancient DNA Suggests

Researchers have long wondered whether upper-class members of the ancient nomadic warriors earned their social status through individual achievements or birthright

Microscope images of an artificial cell, colored green, dividing into two

Scientists Say They’ve Made Cells That Feed, Grow and Reproduce, Bringing Them One Step Closer to Building Life From Scratch

The human-made cells show many hallmarks of life, but they can’t make all their necessary internal structures or divide for very many generations

Some of the Neanderthal remains that were analyzed in the new study

Why Did Neanderthals Go Extinct? Inbreeding Probably Wasn’t to Blame for Their Demise in Northwestern Europe, a Study Suggests

In contrast to those who resided in Siberia, Neanderthals who lived in what’s now Belgium and France shortly before the species vanished seem to have been genetically diverse and healthy

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