Genetics

The olm, or cave dragon, is the largest cave-adapted animal in Europe. These strange creatures spend their entire lives in caves, and face threats from pollution runoff from agriculture and chemical plants on the surface.

Cave Dragons Exist—And Saving Them Could Be Key to Protecting Drinking Water

New DNA techniques are letting researchers track down the largest, strangest cave animals in the world

Cats rule the world. But how did they get here?

How Cats Conquered the World

Scientists use 9,000 years of feline genetics to chart their global rise to power

Ancient DNA revolutionized archaeology. Now, researchers think they can use it to create a GPS system for the remains of the long-dead.

Ancient DNA Could Unravel the Mystery of Prehistoric European Migration

New research pinpoints the geographic origins of ancient Eurasians, showing how the continent’s population changed

View looking south of the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco, where the fossils were found

The Science Behind the Discovery of the Oldest Homo Sapien

We need both genetics and anthropology to solve the mysteries of human origins, says a researcher on the team

The sarcophagus of Tadja, one of the mummies from Abusir el Meleq that had its DNA analyzed in a new study.

Ancient Mummies Finally Give Up Their Genetic Secrets

Armed with new DNA techniques, scientists have extracted genetic sequences from preserved Egyptians

DNA barcoding, as the name suggests, was designed to make identifying a species as simple as scanning a supermarket barcode.

The Key to Protecting Life on Earth May Be Barcoding It

An easier way to read DNA is helping scientists tease apart species and ecosystems in nuanced ways

Sherpas Evolved to Live and Work at Altitude

The Nepali ethnic group handles oxygen more efficiently, allowing them to more easily live in the mountains

Aubrey de Grey says, “There’s no such thing as aging gracefully.”

Can Human Mortality Really Be Hacked?

Backed by the digital fortunes of Silicon Valley, biotech companies are brazenly setting out to “cure” aging

Ornithologist John Gould's illustrations of finches collected by Charles Darwin on the Galápagos Islands show the physical differences that the men relied on in dividing them into different species.

What Does It Mean to Be a Species? Genetics Is Changing the Answer

As DNA techniques let us see animals in finer and finer gradients, the old definition is falling apart

Did Peckish Christians Make Chickens More Social?

Religious dietary laws in the Middle Ages could have helped make the fowl less aggressive

Tea leaves

Researchers Read the Genome in the Tea Leaves

It's massive—four times that of coffee

Roughly 70 pink pigeons exist in captivity around the world, including this one at the San Diego Zoo.

Threatened Species? Science to the (Genetic) Rescue!

This still-controversial conservation technique will never be a species' panacea. But it might provide a crucial stop-gap

Every cupful of pond water is swirling with DNA sequences. Now, scientists are putting them to work to solve stubborn conservation mysteries.

How Scientists Use Teeny Bits of Leftover DNA to Solve Wildlife Mysteries

Environmental DNA helps biologists track rare, elusive species. It could usher in a revolution for conservation biology

Sandy Maliki

Dingo Wins Competition for World’s Most Interesting Genome

The desert dingo beat out an explosive beetle, a pit viper and pink pigeon to win a grant to have its genome sequenced

Aurochs illustration from Sigismund von Herberstein's book published in 1556

When the Nazis Tried to Bring Animals Back From Extinction

Their ideology of genetic purity extended to aspirations about reviving a pristine landscape with ancient animals and forests

A San man prepares his arrows for hunting in the Living Museum of the Ju’Hoansi-San, Grashoek, Namibia

San People of South Africa Issue Code of Ethics for Researchers

This much-studied population is the first indigenous people of Africa to develop such guidelines

Could the Tiny Zebrafish Teach Us to Cure Blindness?

By learning how zebrafish regenerate their retinas, researchers could figure out how to help humans do the same

From the same DNA, different genders can boast dramatically different characteristics. Dung beetles are helping scientists understand how.

What Dung Beetles Can Teach Us About Sexual Difference

When it comes to sex appeal, it's not all in your genes (it's also in your proteins!)

New research strengthens the theory that different climates influenced the shape of the human nose.

How Climate Helped Shape Your Nose

New research shows how the width of our nasal passages is literally shaped by the air we breathe

Paleo diet? Not so much. Thanks to Neanderthal dental plaque, researchers are getting a much better idea of what our ancestors actually dined on.

Scientists Delve Into Neanderthal Dental Plaque to Understand How They Lived and Ate

The plaque that coated Neanderthal teeth is shedding new light on how our ancestors ate, self-medicated and interacted with humans

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