Genetics News | Sci.News

The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus). Image credit: Seashalia Gibb.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Numbat

Feb 15, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Two teams of genetic researchers have sequenced the genome of the numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), a critically endangered Australian insectivorous marsupial...

The diversity of the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was already declining some 900 to 800 years before its discovery by Georg Wilhelm Steller. Image credit: R. Ellis.

Genetic Secrets of Steller’s Sea Cow Revealed

Feb 11, 2022 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has extracted and analyzed ancient DNA from fragmentary remains of 12 individuals of the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis...

A female European mistletoe (Viscum album) plant in winter in the Herrenhäuser Gardens in Hanover, Germany. Image credit: Schröder et al., oi: 10.1111/tpj.15558.

Researchers Sequence Gene Space of European Mistletoe

Feb 4, 2022 by News Staff

The European mistletoe (Viscum album) is a hemiparasitic flowering plant steeped in ancient associations with druids and Northern European folklore. Since...

A person’s appreciation of nature and their tendency to visit natural spaces are heritable characteristics. Image credit: Adam Derewecki.

Study: Our Desire to Be in Nature and How We Experience It are Partially Heritable

Feb 3, 2022 by News Staff

Using the TwinsUK panel, an international team of researchers led by the National University of Singapore examined the extent to which genetic versus environmental...

Canadian Eskimo dogs. Illustration by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

Canine Genetic Mutation Associated with Small Body Size Arose More Than 53,000 Years Ago

Jan 28, 2022 by News Staff

Researchers have assembled a catalog of 1,431 genomes, inclusive of ancient canines, modern breed dogs, and wild canids, in a search for genetic variants...

Cave lions painted in the Chauvet Cave, France.

Ancient Lions and Bears Colonized North America in Multiple Waves, DNA Study Says

Jan 4, 2022 by News Staff

Researchers from the University of Adelaide and elsewhere have sequenced and analyzed mitochondrial DNA from fossils of cave lions (Panthera spp.) and...

The lychee (Litchi chinensis). Image credit: Xuan Duong.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Lychee

Jan 4, 2022 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the United States, China, Singapore, France and Canada has decoded the genome of the lychee (Litchi chinensis),...

Grapes (Vitis vinifera). Image credit: Gerhard G.

European Wine Grapes Originated in Western Asia, Study Suggests

Dec 29, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

European wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) originated from the hybridization of western Asian-domesticated table grapes and local wild relatives, according...

Surface of a section of undisturbed block of sediment from Denisova Cave. Image credit: Mike Morley / Flinders University.

Scientists Find Ancient Hominin and Animal DNA in Cave Sediments

Dec 28, 2021 by News Staff

A research team led by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Flinders University scientists has successfully extracted ancient DNA from...

Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) on U.S. Route 199 in California, the United States. Image credit: Acroterion / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Coast Redwood

Dec 20, 2021 by News Staff

Researchers have successfully sequenced, assembled and annotated the genome of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), one of the most widely recognized...

Western honeybees (Apis mellifera). Image credit: PollyDot.

Western Honeybees May Have Originated in Asia, New Study Says

Dec 3, 2021 by News Staff

The origin of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) has been intensely debated. Addressing this knowledge gap is essential for understanding the evolution...

The calico rockfish (Sebastes dallii). Image credit: K. Lee.

Scientists Identify Genetic Drivers of Extreme Longevity in Pacific Ocean Rockfishes

Nov 16, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and elsewhere has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 88 Pacific Ocean rockfish species...

Distribution of genes and repetitive elements in Isoetes taiwanensis (center): the relatively even distributions differ from angiosperm genomes, but are similar to what have been reported in other seed-free plants; only scaffolds longer than 10 Mb are plotted. Image credit: Wickell et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26644-7.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Quillwort

Nov 3, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of Isoetes taiwanensis, a species of aquatic plant endemic to Taiwan, and uncovered some...

Central bearded dragon cells under a microscope, showing the tiny microchromosomes huddled together amongst the larger chromosomes. Image credit: Shayer Alam / La Trobe University.

‘Microchromosomes’ are Fundamental Building Blocks of Amniote Chromosomes, Study Finds

Nov 2, 2021 by News Staff

Tiny ‘microchromosomes’ (<0.5 µm) are the building blocks of all animal genomes, but they underwent ‘dizzying rearrangement’ in mammals, including...

Representative Bruguiera gymnorhiza trees in the river side population (left) and the oceanside population (right) along the Okukubi River, the Okinawa main island, Japan. Scale bars - 1 m. Image credit: Miryeganeh et al., doi: 10.1111/nph.17738.

Mangrove Tree Genome Sequenced

Oct 26, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and University College London has decoded the genome of...

Librado et al. pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Image credit: Devanath.

Horses Were First Domesticated in Western Eurasian Steppes More Than 4,000 Years Ago

Oct 21, 2021 by News Staff

In a study published this week in the journal Nature, scientists analyzed ancient horse genomes from all suspected domestication centers, including Iberia,...

A trio of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) trudges over snow covered hills; behind them, mountains with snow covered peaks rise above dark green forests of fir trees. Image credit: Daniel Eskridge.

Rapid Climate Change Wiped Out Woolly Mammoths, Study Confirms

Oct 20, 2021 by News Staff

In a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, an international team of researchers have analyzed 535 permafrost...

A female blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) in the permanent collection of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Image credit: Wendy Kaveney / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Blue Crab

Oct 5, 2021 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science has successfully sequenced the genome of the blue crab (Callinectes...

Ke et al. report 14 genes that promote obesity and 3 genes that prevent diet-induced obesity when silenced in Caenorhabditis elegans. Image credit: Renée Gordon, FDA.

Researchers Discover 17 New Genes that Promote or Prevent Obesity

Oct 1, 2021 by News Staff

A new study in Caenorhabditis elegans worms has identified 14 new genes that promote obesity and 3 genes that prevent diet-induced obesity. Ke et al. report...