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Genetics

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

Out of 381 pairs of identical twins involved in the new study, 39 had more than 100 differences in their DNA.

New Research

Many Identical Twins Actually Have Slightly Different DNA

In a new study of over 300 pairs of identical twins, only 38 had perfectly identical DNA

If the platypus looks like a mixture of bird and mammal features, it's because it is.

New Research

Platypus Genes Are Just as Odd as the Creature Itself

These egg-laying, lactating animals have genes in common with mammals as well as birds

Archaic Age people—like the ones who made these blades—arrived in the Caribbean around 6,000 years ago.

What Ancient DNA Reveals About the First People to Populate the Caribbean

New study suggests a group of migrants almost totally replaced the islands’ original population

Nearly 80 percent of the world's vanilla beans are produced by small farmers in Madagascar. The global supply is tiny compared with demand and is often threatened by extreme weather and disease.

New Research

Newly Sequenced Vanilla Genome Could Boost Tiny Global Supply

Tweaking the crop’s genes could help increase its yields and make it more resistant to disease and natural disasters

Of the deep-water samples collected by this team, they identified 11 fish families, 11 genera and eight species. This fish, from the genus Leptochilichthys, was discovered at nearly 3,000 feet deep.

Scientists Collect Floating Bits of DNA to Study Deep Sea Creatures

Analyzing seawater samples reveals what critters lurk there—without having to see them

Scientists caught a juvenile female vaquita in October of 2017 and released her after she showed signs of stress.

Vaquita Genome Offers Hope for Species’ Survival

A new study suggests the marine mammal can recover naturally if illegal fishing is eliminated

A genetic analysis revealed that by the end of the last ice age—around 11,000 years ago—there were a least five distinct lineages that gave rise to dogs in New Guinea, the Americas, northern Europe, the Near East and Siberia.

How Dogs and Humans Evolved and Migrated in Tandem

Our relationship with pups spans millennia, and new DNA analysis shows just how much people influenced canine evolution

Rotten fish contain a smellable chemical found in bad breath, faeces and blood, but some people identified it as sweets or roses.

New Research

If Rotten Fish Smell Like Roses to You, a Genetic Mutation Might Be to Blame

A new study in Iceland found a connection between a person’s ability to sniff stinky fish and a gene called TAAR5

CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has the power to improve the lives of millions of people.

Trending Today

Two Scientists Receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Their Discovery of CRISPR

The award-winning researchers, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, harnessed the power of gene-editing technology and revolutionized biology

Vikings' maritime expeditions brought them out of Scandinavia and into Northern Europe, where they intermingled with local populations.

Sweeping DNA Survey Highlights Vikings’ Surprising Genetic Diversity

A new study suggests Viking identity didn’t always equate to Scandinavian ancestry

A speech therapist forms an L during a stuttering therapy.

What Neuroscientists Are Discovering About Stuttering

After centuries of misunderstanding, researchers are tying the condition to genes and brain alterations.

Three dogs sit at attention

What a Crowdsourced Study Taught Us About How Dogs Learn

A new study looks at the genes that underlie traits from self control to communication

New research suggests a genetic mutation some humans inherited from Neanderthals may make them more sensitive to pain than their peers.

New Research

Neanderthals May Have Been More Sensitive to Pain Than Most Humans

Modern humans with this Neanderthal-inherited gene report 7 percent more pain than other people

An 18th-century engraving depicting cross sections of a ship used to transport enslaved people from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean

New Research Reveals the Transatlantic Slave Trade’s Genetic Legacy

Scientists investigated whether genetic data collected from 50,000 volunteers lined up with historical shipping manifests

Frans Snyders' Fruit Stall features a vast spread of produce from the 17th century.

Art Meets Science

Centuries-Old Paintings Help Researchers Track Food Evolution

Art inadvertently documents the domestication of carrots, wheat, watermelon and other culinary delights

Greenland sled dogs at work

Husky Ancestors Started Hauling Sleds for Humans Nearly 10,000 Years Ago

A genetic study shows that today’s Arctic sled dogs have something curious in common with polar bears

One of the interior passages of the 5,000-year-old Irish megalithic tomb of Newgrange. In this photo, sunlight enters the monument's main chamber at dawn on the winter solstice.

DNA Extracted From Ancient ‘Irish Pharaoh’ May Reveal Royal Incest

New analysis of elite man buried in Stone Age monument suggests he was the product of either a brother-sister or parent-child pairing

A gene unique to humans increased brain size in common marmosets.

Brain Gene Tops the List for Making Humans, Human

In a study involving marmosets, a primate genetically similar to humans, researchers have come closer to understanding brain evolution

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