Articles tagged as Genetics | Smithsonian Magazine

New Research

Bully or Bystander? It Could Be in the Genes

New study says bullying may be nature, not nurture

July 30, 2015

Cool Finds

Why Mammals Have a Monopoly On Milk

It all started with an egg

July 28, 2015

Brazil's Surui people, like the man pictured above, share ancestry with indigenous Australians, new evidence suggests.

New Research

A DNA Search for the First Americans Links Amazon Groups to Indigenous Australians

The new genetic analysis takes aim at the theory that just one founding group settled the Americas

July 21, 2015

An illustration shows the process of cell division, which involves chromosome pairs swapping some of their genetic data.

New Research

Human Sex Chromosomes Are Sloppy DNA Swappers

The genetic bundles that code for males and females can get a little messy when they trade pieces during cell division

July 17, 2015

Tissue samples in test tubes, like the one D.C. high school student Asia Hill is holding above, are wrapped tin foil and dropped into the team's portable liquid nitrogen tank.

These Scientists Hope to Have Half the World’s Plant Families on Ice By the End of Summer

Teaming up with botanical gardens, researchers at the Natural History Museum are digging deep into garden plant genomics

July 9, 2015

Through genetic engineering, researchers are trying to give high-producing black Angus cows cooler white coats to face the changing climate.

Researchers Are Trying to Genetically Engineer Cows to Stay Cool

As the planet warms, researchers are trying to engineer a cow that can beat the heat

July 6, 2015

A genetically modified lamb from a research lab in France was accidentally sent to market in November. It's unclear who might have eaten her.

A Genetically Modified Sheep was Sent to a Slaughter House and Sold for Meat

The lamb came from a agricultural research lab and was equipped with a jellyfish gene

June 24, 2015

Cool Finds

What Does it Really Mean to Be 99 Percent Chimp?

This video breaks down our statistical similarity to chimpanzees

June 19, 2015

Previous analysis of the Kennewick Man's skull suggested that he might be closely related to Asian populations and Polynesians. But new genetic analysis indicates his ancestral roots are in the Americas.

New Research

Genome Analysis Links Kennewick Man to Native Americans

Ancient DNA sequenced from the skeleton adds to the controversy over the individual’s ancestry

June 18, 2015

The Same Probiotic That’s In Your Yogurt Could Detect Liver Cancer

Take a dose of this bacteria, genetically altered by scientists at MIT, and your urine will glow if liver cancer is present

June 10, 2015

How “Meat Banks” Are Helping Farmers Preserve Precious Livestock

Frozen sperm and tissue are being stored to protect commercial animals and help save rare heritage breeds

June 1, 2015

If a lobster’s home territory is written into its genetic code, it just may be possible to distinguish a legally captured lobster from one with a shady background—maybe even after it’s made it to the dinner plate.

To Make Lobster Fisheries More Sustainable, Scientists Attempt to Decode Crustacean DNA

As the battle escalates to combat illegal fishing, Smithsonian scientists offer up a possible genetic tool

May 28, 2015

Baker's or brewer's yeast, like the sample pictured above, could one day be used for more efficient opiate production.

Engineered Yeast Could Open up a DIY Painkiller Market

The modified microbes could also make cheaper and better opiates

May 19, 2015

In a recent ad campaign, portraits of litterers made from DNA taken from tossed cigarettes, coffee cups and condoms were posted in public places around Hong Kong.

DNA Testing Could Identify Litterbugs and Dog Poop Miscreants

Anonymous crimes may not be quite so anonymous anymore

May 6, 2015

Ask Smithsonian: Are Cats Domesticated?

There is little genetic difference between a tabby and a wild cat, so scientists think the house cat is only domestic when it wants to be

April 30, 2015

Light micrograph of a two-celled human zygote (the earliest stages of the embryo)

New Research

Gene Editing in Human Embryos Ignites Controversy

Chinese researchers have published the results of using a new gene-editing tool on human embryos

April 23, 2015

An Aedes aegypti mosquito stops for a quick bite.

New Research

Genes Make Some People More Attractive to Mosquitoes

Certain body odors appear to entice the pesky bloodsuckers—and those smells may be hereditary

April 22, 2015

When civil war broke out in Syria, scientists saved more than 80 percent of a priceless trove of seeds

April 17, 2015

Privacy concerns could stymie NASA’s study of Scott and Mark Kelly

March 26, 2015

In the Argentine village of San Antonio de los Cobres, some people have a genetic mutation that helps them cope with the high levels of arsenic present in their drinking water.

New Research

Centuries of Poison-Laced Water Gave These People a Tolerance to Arsenic

Some citizens of a remote village in the Andes have a genetic adaptation that allows them to quickly process high levels of arsenic, a new study shows

March 6, 2015