DNA

Scientists traced the history of AMY1, the gene that's responsible for the production of amylase, an enzyme that helps break down complex carbohydrates.

Can't Get Enough Carbs? That Craving Might Have Started More Than 800,000 Years Ago

New research traces the genetic underpinnings of the enzyme amylase, which helps humans digest starches and sugars

The lions have been housed as taxidermy specimens at the Field Museum in Chicago since 1925.

Two Lions Went on a Man-Eating Spree in 1898. Now, DNA Evidence Reveals Their Diets

The notorious predators, nicknamed the “Man-Eaters of Tsavo,” terrorized railway workers in Kenya for roughly nine months

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for their work on protein structure.

Scientists' Work on Protein Structure, Which Governs All Aspects of Life, Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper revealed how amino acids shape protein structure, a finding that could aid in drug discovery

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who together discovered microRNA.

American Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine for 'Groundbreaking' Gene Discovery Made by Studying Worms

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, tiny molecules that play a crucial role in how cells develop, paving the way for new treatments for diseases

James Fitzjames was a captain aboard the HMS Erebus. Now, researchers have identified his remains with DNA analysis.

DNA Reveals Identity of Officer on the Lost Franklin Expedition—and His Remains Show Signs of Cannibalism

Researchers recently identified James Fitzjames, a captain on the ill-fated HMS Erebus that went looking for the Northwest Passage in 1845

This "everlasting" crystal contains the entire human genome, recorded using ultra-fast lasers, and is meant to instruct future species on how to create humans.

In Case Humans Go Extinct, This Memory Crystal Will Store Our Genome for Billions of Years

Scientists have created "a form of information immortality" meant to instruct future species on how to recreate humans. But who, or what, will find it?

Construction of the famous stone statues of Rapa Nui, called moai, was previously thought to have contributed to the island's population collapse.

Easter Island's Ancient Population Never Faced Ecological Collapse, Suggests Another Study

New DNA analysis adds to growing research indicating the famous Pacific island did not collapse from overuse of resources before the arrival of Europeans

Researchers discovered Thorin's fossilized remains in 2015 in a cave in southern France.

Ancient DNA Reveals Neanderthal Group Was Isolated for 50,000 Years

A new study, based on the remains of a Neanderthal nicknamed Thorin, is shaking up what archaeologists long thought about these early humans in Europe

Recent genetic research could be used to produce plants without prickles, making it easier for gardeners to pluck roses without getting jabbed.

Scientists Identify the Gene Behind Thorny Roses and Other Prickly Plants

A recent study could pave the way to cultivating various thornless plants, making them easier to grow and potentially more widely available

Grave 109 at Oakington is a rare triple burial, holding the remains of a female infant, a young woman (left) and an older woman (center). 

Archaeologists Uncover the Real Story of How England Became England

New research is revealing how the Sceptered Isle transformed from a Roman backwater to a mighty country of its own

Viruses known known as bacteriophages, or “bacteria eaters” in Greek, occupy the gut.

Inside the Hidden Kingdom of Viruses in Your Gut

Human innards are teeming with viruses that infect bacteria. Here's what scientists are learning about them

Archaeologists found the bishop's remains in a tomb in Spain in 1955.

Archaeologists May Have Identified the Bones of a Celebrated Ninth-Century Bishop in Spain

Bishop Teodomiro was a central figure in the creation of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage

The South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa) has the largest known genome of the animal kingdom at 91 billion base pairs of DNA.

The World's Largest Animal Genome Belongs to an Odd, Air-Breathing Fish

Scientists sequenced the 91 billion base pairs in the South American lungfish’s genome, setting a record and revealing insights into vertebrate evolution

An artist's reconstruction of the two tardigrade species found preserved in a pebble-sized piece of amber in Canada.

Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button

Scientists have only four known tardigrade fossils, which preserve insights into how the hardy critters evolved their hibernation-like superpower of cryptobiosis

A woman stands behind a model of a Neanderthal at the Natural History Museum in London. Contrary to the narrative that early humans left Africa roughly 50,000 years ago, a new study finds our species migrated from the continent on multiple occasions.

Early Humans Migrated Out of Africa Several Times, DNA Study Suggests

Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals as early as 250,000 years ago and may have ultimately bred them out of existence, according to new research

As well as frescoes of Cerberus, the guard dog of the underworld, the tomb was decorated with paintings of marine centaurs.

Archaeologists Crack Open a 2,000-Year-Old Coffin in Italy's ‘Tomb of Cerberus’

The stone coffin likely contains the leader of the family that built the frescoed chamber in Naples

One of the complete skeletons analyzed in the new study

Did Plague Cause the Mysterious Collapse of Europe's Early Farmers 5,000 Years Ago?

A new study finds widespread DNA evidence that an ancestor pathogen of the Black Death helped bring about the end of an agricultural society responsible for megalithic tombs and monuments, like Stonehenge

Scientists believe the mammoth was so well-preserved because of the dry, cold climate in Siberia.

3D DNA Preserved for 52,000 Years in Freeze-Dried Woolly Mammoth Remains

For the first time, researchers have mapped ancient genetic material in unprecedented detail

Ranchers and landowners consider dingoes pests, while conservationists say they are vitally important to Australia's ecosystem.

Ancient DNA Unravels the Mysteries of the Dingo, Australia's Wild Dog

Researchers dove into thousands of years of evolutionary history, revealing new insights about the iconic, though sometimes vilified, canines

Tusks and other fossilized remains are all that's left of the woolly mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island thousands of years ago.

What Killed the Last Woolly Mammoths? Scientists Say It Wasn't Inbreeding

New research suggests some catastrophic event—such as a natural disaster or a virus—killed the world's last known population of mammoths on Wrangel Island

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