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DNA

A new study hints that Australia's first people arrived via a major northern route and a smaller southern route. 

Modern Humans Reached Australia Around 60,000 Years Ago via Two Routes, Genetic Analysis Suggests

The study bolsters one hypothesis of when people arrived at the landmass that became Australia and other islands, and presents some of the earliest evidence of seafaring

Genetic analyses revealed some of the winding paths behind the spread of domestic cats.

When Did Domestic Cats Take Over the World? New Research Suggests They Arrived in Europe and China Centuries Later Than We Thought

Two genetic analyses suggest that our feline friends reached China around 1,400 years ago via the Silk Road, and that they traveled from North Africa to Europe around 2,000 years ago

A bust of Plato in the Long Room at Trinity College Dublin

Coastal Cities of Europe

Go Behind the Scenes at an Iconic Irish Library as Staff Move 700,000 Historical Treasures Into Storage

Trinity College Dublin’s Old Library will close for restoration and construction in 2027. What does that mean for the medieval manuscripts and books housed there?

The birch bark tar is covered in tooth marks and contains traces of saliva.

New Research

Ancient DNA Reveals That a Teenage Girl Chewed on This Wad of ‘Gum’ 10,500 Years Ago

Based on genetic material preserved in birch bark tar from Estonia, researchers found that the teen likely had brown hair and brown eyes

Previously, researchers assumed that much of modern dogs' diversity emerged during he past few centuries.

New Research

Dogs Have Been Surprisingly Diverse for More Than 10,000 Years, New Research Suggests

Two studies provide scientists with a more comprehensive understanding of how early dogs were domesticated as they migrated around the world alongside humans

One of the woolly mammoth's legs

Scientists Extract the Oldest RNA Ever Found, Revealing How a Woolly Mammoth’s Genes May Have Functioned 40,000 Years Ago

The frozen remains of a juvenile woolly mammoth named Yuka preserved details about the animal’s last moments alive

A bee buzzes by a hybrid magenta-and-yellow snapdragon.

Colorful Snapdragons in the Valleys of the Pyrenees Offer a Rare Window Into How Evolution Happens

Studying the ways that magenta and yellow flowers intermingle paints a vibrant picture of how the plants exchange genetic information—and what keeps each color variety unique

A spiny-tailed iguana on Clarion Island

Iguanas Are Native, Not Invasive, on This Mexican Island, DNA Study Suggests, Rewriting Conservation Ideas

The spiny-tailed iguanas of Clarion Island predate human presence in the Americas by tens of thousands of years, researchers say

Bowhead whales' cold-water habitats help the animals make more CIRBP protein.  

Bowhead Whales Live Long Lives. Do They Hold the Key to Human Longevity?

A cold-activated gene that helps the mammals repair their DNA may also help humans live longer

New research suggests a genetic dynamic that may have contributed to Neanderthals' extinction.

A Single Gene Could Have Contributed to Neanderthals’ Extinction, Study Suggests

New research posits that a genetic incompatibility between female offspring of humans and Neanderthals and their children could have led to pregnancy complications and the eventual end of the species

Thousands of men died as Napoleon's army retreated from Russia in 1812.

Cold, Hungry and Thirsty, Napoleon’s Troops Also Suffered From Several Diseases as They Retreated From Russia

New research finds evidence of two previously undocumented infections that likely plagued the French emperor’s Grande Armée during the retreat from Moscow

The liver came from a genetically modified cloned pig with ten gene edits.

Surgeons in China Perform First Pig Liver Transplant in Human Patient

The patient lived with part of a pig liver for 38 days before surgeons removed it, surviving 171 total days after the procedure

The mold growing on batches of Bayley Hazen Blue cheese changed from green to white between 2016 and the present day.

Scientists Watch Fungi Evolve in Real Time, Thanks to a Marriage Proposal in a Cheese Cave

A new study pinpoints a disruption in a gene that made a beloved blue cheese’s rind go from green to white

An egg with a human skin cell nucleus before fertilization

Scientists Made Functional Human Eggs With Skin Cells in ‘Proof of Concept’ for Advancing Fertility

The research could open up avenues for fertility treatments after additional refinement and trials, but it also raises ethical concerns

The epigenetic clock is emerging as a wildlife conservation tool.

This ‘Clock’ Could Warn of Hidden Stresses to Animals, Offering a Long-Sought Signal That a Population Is Nearing Collapse

The epigenetic clock measures biological age and could help scientists assess the health of polar bears, dolphins, baboons and other threatened creatures “while recovery is still possible”

 Maria Branyas Morera on her 117th birthday

Scientists Studied the Genes of a Woman Who Lived 117 Years. Here’s What They Learned

Maria Branyas Morera, formerly the world’s oldest person, allowed researchers to take a detailed look at her biology before she died last year

Stuttering affects roughly 1 percent of the world's population, yet it is not well researched.

What Causes Stuttering? A Large DNA Analysis Study Offers New Clues, Uncovering Links to 48 Genes

Scientists analyzed data from more than one million users of 23andMe and found associations between certain genes and stuttering

Scientists are considering what limits to potentially place on mirror-image cell research.

Scientists Weigh the Risks of ‘Mirror Life,’ Synthetic Molecules With a Reverse Version of Life’s Building Blocks

Though mirror biology might lead to improved drugs and other innovations, scientists have warned against potentially devastating consequences of this research

The researchers studied the genomes of thousands of ant specimens stored in museum collections.

Fiji’s Ants Are Struggling. Scientists Say They’re Part of the Broader ‘Insect Apocalypse’

New research finds that 79 percent of Fiji’s endemic ant species—those that are native to and only found on the archipelago—are in decline

Researchers studied genetic samples from 483 mammoths, including from their tusks, bones, skin and molars (shown here).

Scientists Investigate the Bacteria That Colonized Extinct Mammoths—and Uncover the Oldest Known Microbial DNA From a Host

Some of the microbes might have been benign or helpful, while others could have caused deadly diseases

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