Genetics, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 30, 2022

DNA from Mysterious 'Denisovans' Helped Modern Humans Survive

Genetic mutations from extinct human relatives called the Denisovans might have influenced modern human immune systems, as well as fat and blood sugar levels, researchers say. Very little is known about the Denisovans. The first evidence of them was discovered in Denisova Cave in Siberia in 2008, and DNA from...

Aug 30, 2022

Finger Bone Points to New Branch of Humanity

A finger bone from Siberia now reveals a previously unknown group of ancient humans once existed there, one neither like us nor Neanderthals. Bizarrely, the DNA from these extinct Siberians seems unusually similar to that of Pacific Islanders from tropical Melanesia. The 30,000-year-old fossil was found in Denisova Cave in...

Aug 30, 2022

Mystery ancestor mated with ancient humans. And its 'nested' DNA was just found.

Today's humans carry the genes of an ancient, unknown ancestor, left there by hominin species intermingling perhaps a million years ago. The ancestor may have been Homo erectus, but no one knows for sure — the genome of that extinct species of human has never been sequenced, said Adam Siepel,...

Aug 30, 2022

Oldest Human DNA Reveals Mysterious Branch of Humanity

The oldest known human DNA found yet reveals human evolution was even more confusing than thought, researchers say. The DNA, which dates back some 400,000 years, may belong to an unknown human ancestor, say scientists. These new findings could shed light on a mysterious extinct branch of humanity known as...

Oct 14, 2022

Happiness Is Partly Inherited

The key to happiness may lie in your genes. Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh and the Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Australia have found that happiness is partly determined by personality traits that are largely hereditary, along with your situation in life. The researchers used a personality test...

Oct 14, 2022

Freak Chickens Lay Eggs Loaded with Drugs

Genetically modified hens can produce drugs in the whites of their eggs, scientists reported today. The technology signifies an important advance in the use of farm animals for pharmaceutical production, the scientists said in a statement. Traditional methods for producing therapeutic proteins such as antibodies used to treat cancer and...

Nov 12, 2022

In a 1st, child treated for rare, often-fatal disorder while still in the womb

In a first, doctors began treating a child's rare genetic disorder before she was born. The child, who is now 16 months old, will still require treatment for the rest of her life, but starting her therapy early meant she was born without overt signs of the disorder and with...

Dec 7, 2022

World's oldest DNA reveals secrets of lost Arctic ecosystem from 2 million years ago

Scientists have discovered tiny fragments of 2 million-year-old DNA trapped within frozen layers of Arctic sediment. The ancient genetic material, which is the oldest ever discovered, has provided a glimpse of a previously unknown ecosystem. Since 2006, researchers have uncovered 41 samples of DNA within a 328-foot-deep (100 meters) slab...

Dec 14, 2022

'Butterfly disease' makes the skin incredibly fragile, but a new gene therapy helps it heal

Butterfly disease is a rare genetic condition that causes people's skin to bubble up in blisters under the slightest pressure. Now, in a late-stage clinical trial, researchers have shown that a gel containing DNA can help mend these patients' wounds and prevent further damage. These results, published Wednesday (Dec. 14)...

Dec 22, 2022

More than 150 'made-from-scratch' genes are in the human genome. 2 are totally unique to us.

Humans and chimpanzees split from a common ancestor roughly 6 million years ago, when we set off down separate branches on the evolutionary tree of life. Humans continued to birth completely new genes after that split, some of which arose from regions of the genome long thought to be junk,...

Feb 1, 2023

What's the difference between race and ethnicity?

Race and ethnicity are both terms that describe human identity, but in different — if related — ways. Identity might bring to mind questions of skin color, nationality, language, religion, cultural traditions or family ancestry. Both race and ethnicity encompass many of these descriptors. 'Race' and 'ethnicity' have been and...

Feb 2, 2023

Dozens of genes linked to thyroid disease risk in largest study of its kind

In the largest study of its kind, scientists pinpointed more than 100 genes linked to thyroid conditions. The researchers used this genomic data to identify people at high risk of developing thyroid problems and the ages by which their diseases would manifest. It substantially advances our understanding of the genetic...

Apr 25, 2023

Rosalind Franklin knew DNA was a helix before Watson and Crick, unpublished material reveals

In 1962, scientists James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the double helix structure of DNA. However, it has long been believed that the trio never would've made this significant discovery if they hadn't stolen data from Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist...

May 10, 2023

1st draft of a human 'pangenome' published, adding millions of 'building blocks' to the human reference genome

Scientists have published the first human pangenome — a full genetic sequence that incorporates genomes from not just one individual, but 47. These 47 individuals hail from around the globe and thus vastly increase the diversity of the genomes represented in the sequence, compared to the previous full human genome...

Jun 14, 2023

Doctors identify never-before-seen genetic mutations that led to 2 children's insatiable hunger

Two children who experienced intense, insatiable hunger that drove them to overeat have rare, never-before-seen genetic mutations that interfere with leptin, a key hormone that helps tell the body when it is full, a new case report says. After white fat cells make leptin, it plugs into the brainstem and...