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DNA

The older man, who died when he was in his 50s, succumbed to an injury likely sustained during a Viking raid. The second, who was in his 20s when he died, was targeted in the St. Brice's Day massacre of 1002.

Cool Finds

Viking-Era Relatives Who Died on Opposite Sides of the Sea Reunited at Last

Either half-brothers or a nephew and uncle, one died after taking part in a raid, while the other was the victim of an English massacre

Passengers ride the New York City subway on May 24, 2021.

New Research

Thousands of Unknown Microbes Found in Subways Around the World

A team of more than 900 scientists and volunteers swabbed the surfaces of 60 public transit systems

Coral reef health is an important indicator of the ocean’s well-being. Scientists can study corals to learn more about how climate change is affecting the oceans.

Smithsonian Voices

DNA Makes Waves in the Fight to Save Coral Reefs

This emerging technique could help scientists understand and anticipate the threats coral reefs face

Oxitec placed six hexagonal boxes of mosquitoes on private properties in the Florida Keys.

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Take Flight to Fight Invasive Species in Florida

Invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can carry disease, so Oxitec’s modified strain is designed to reduce their numbers

This facial reconstruction envisions what HMS Erebus engineer John Gregory may have looked like.

Descendant’s DNA Helps Identify Remains of Doomed Franklin Expedition Engineer

New research marks the first time scholars have confirmed the identity of bones associated with the fateful Arctic voyage

“We used five isotope methods in all to provide information on geology, coastal proximity, climate and diet,” says study co-author Richard Madgwick, an osteoarchaeologist at Cardiff University.

New Research

Ethnically Diverse Crew of Henry VIII’s Flagship Hailed From Iberia, North Africa

New multi-isotope analysis illuminates early lives of sailors stationed on the Tudor “Mary Rose,” including three born outside of Britain

For moms, there's physiological and neurological truth to the cliché that parenthood changes a person.

The New Science of Motherhood

Through studies of fetal DNA, researchers are revealing how a child can shape a mom’s heart and mind—literally

New research suggests that Swedish Bishop Peder Winstrup was buried alongside the remains of his grandchild, a stillborn fetus delivered at five or six months gestation.

Why Was This Mummified 17th-Century Bishop Buried With a Fetus?

The stillborn baby was likely the grandson of Peder Winstrup, whose well-preserved remains have been the subject of much study

Scientists excavate bones at Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria. Four modern human bones were recovered from this layer along with a rich stone tool assemblage, animal bones, bone tools and pendants.

Some of Europe’s Oldest-Known Modern Humans Are Distantly Related to Native Americans

Genome sequencing shows some individuals share family ties with surprising populations, and all boast plenty of Neanderthal relatives

A tiny, aphid-like whitefly sitting on a leaf.

New Research

This Insect Has Plant DNA in Its Genome

Whiteflies have a gene only found in plants that appears to allow the tiny insects to withstand plants’ chemical defenses

Researchers propose storing genetic material from each of Earth's 6.7 million species of known organisms to safeguard life on our planet from annihilation.

Sending DNA From Earth’s 6.7 Million Species to the Moon to Safeguard Life

Researchers propose constructing a ‘lunar ark’ to provide our planet with a ‘reset button’ in the event of a world-ending catastrophe

Overhead view of the mass grave, which contains the remains of at least 41 Copper Age people

Analysis of 6,200-Year-Old Grave Raises New Questions About Neolithic Massacre

Researchers in Croatia extracted DNA from 38 victims of a fifth-millennium B.C. mass killing

Jennifer Doudna, a Nobel Prize recipient for her work on the gene-editing tool CRISPR, and the "life sciences revolution" are the dual subjects of Walter Isaacson's latest biography.

How Scientist Jennifer Doudna Is Leading the Next Technological Revolution

A new book from Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson offers an incisive portrait of the gene editing field that is changing modern medicine

A piece of bone labeled PP-00128 was thought to belong to a bear until DNA analysis revealed it came from a dog.

Ancient DNA Reveals the Oldest Domesticated Dog in the Americas

A 10,000-year-old dog bone was found in an Alaskan cave near a site with human remains

Elizabeth Ann, the first cloned black-footed ferret and the first cloned endangered species native to North America, pictured here at 50 days old.

Elizabeth Ann Is the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret

The creature, the first cloned endangered species native to North America, could provide the fragile population with desperately needed genetic diversity

Steppe mammoths evolved shaggy coats over a million years ago, a trait inherited by woolly mammoths.

Oldest DNA Sequenced Yet Comes From Million-Year-Old Mammoths

Genetic material from three ancient molars reveals secrets of about how the Ice Age elephants evolved

All dogs with the genetic signature A2b descended from the same Siberian canines roughly 23,000 years ago

How Dogs Migrated to America From Ice Age Siberia 15,000 Years Ago

Northern Siberians and ancestral native Americans may have traded pups at the time

The Tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, is a unique reptile found in New Zealand. New research suggests the species has two mitochondrial genomes.

Smithsonian Voices

Scientists Discover This Peculiar New Zealand Reptile Has Two ‘Powerhouse’ Genomes

The research could help zoologists understand what makes tuataras so genetically different from all other reptiles.

An Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) at the Haus des Meeres in Vienna, Austria.

New Research

Australian Lungfish Has Biggest Genome Ever Sequenced

The air-breathing fish dethrones the Mexican axolotl for the title of largest known genome in the animal kingdom

An artist's illustration of two gray wolves (lower left) vying with a pack of dire wolves for a bison carcass near the tar pits in Rancho La Brea roughly 15,000 years ago.

New Research

Dire Wolves Weren’t Actually Wolves, DNA Analysis Reveals

Ancient DNA extracted from fossils shows the beast split off from Canis lupus and coyotes nearly 6 million years ago

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