Genetics News

Water Lily Genome Sheds Light on Early Evolution of Flowering Plants

The blue-petal water lily (Nymphaea colorata) in the Botanischen Garten, Berlin, Germany. Image credit: Rüdiger Kratz / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Dec 19, 2019 by Natali Anderson

An international team of researchers has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of the blue-petal water lily (Nymphaea colorata), a plant species that is valued for the aesthetically attractive blue color of petals. The findings, published in the journal Nature, provide insights into the early evolution of the flowering plants (angiosperms) on key innovations such as flower development and floral scent and color. The blue-petal water lily...

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An artist’s reconstruction of Lola, a woman who chewed the Syltholm birch pitch. Image credit: Tom Björklund.

Researchers Extract and Sequence Human DNA from 5,700-Year-Old ‘Chewing Gum’

Dec 18, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of scientists has successfully sequenced ancient DNA extracted from a 5,700-year-old piece of chewed birch pitch from southern Denmark....

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius). Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski / Field Museum.

DNA-Based ‘Clock’ Predicts Maximum Lifespan in Living and Extinct Vertebrates

Dec 15, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, has developed a simple new method for estimating...

Halicephalobus mephisto (magnified 200x). Image credit: John Bracht, American University.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Deep-Living Worm

Nov 22, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by American University scientists has sequenced the genome of the thermophilic subterrestrial nematode Halicephalobus mephisto, one...

TAS2R38 predicted lower consumption of vegetables in people who possessed the PAV haplotype. Image credit: Jerzy Górecki.

Genetic Variants Play Role in Our Food Choices: Study

Nov 18, 2019 by News Staff

Genetic variants determine whether or not you can tolerate eating certain vegetables, according to new research. TAS2R38 predicted lower consumption of...

Cheng et al report genome sequences and analyses of two early diverging Zygnematophyceae species, Spirogloea muscicola and Mesotaenium endlicherianum, that share the same subaerial/terrestrial habitat with the earliest-diverging embryophytes, the bryophytes. Image credit: Cheng et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.019.

Natural Genetic Engineering Allowed Plants to Move from Water to Land

Nov 15, 2019 by News Staff

Horizontal gene transfer from soil bacteria to algae allowed early life to move to land, according to new research. Cheng et al report genome sequences...

Heavy smoking has a damaging effect on facial aging. Image credit: Jui Magicman.

Heavy Smoking Has Causal Effect on Facial Aging

Nov 4, 2019 by News Staff

In a study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, researchers at the University of Bristol searched for the effects of heavy smoking using the UK Biobank...

Ancient humans. Image credit: sjs.org / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans Traced to Southern Africa

Oct 29, 2019 by News Staff

The earliest ancestors of anatomically modern Homo sapiens emerged in a region south of the Zambezi River in Botswana, Africa, according to a new analysis...

Diversity within the family Viridiplantae. Image credit: Leebens-Mack et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1693-2.

Researchers Generate Gene Sequences for 1,124 Plant Species, Illuminate One Billion Years of Evolution

Oct 28, 2019 by News Staff

As part of the One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes (1KP) Initiative, an international consortium of scientists has sequenced transcriptomes — the set...

A portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA methylation maps. Image credit: Maayan Harel.

Adaptive Genetic Variants from Archaic Hominins Found in Melanesians

Oct 19, 2019 by News Staff

Modern individuals from the Pacific islands of Melanesia harbor adaptive copy number variants (CNVs) that they inherited from two groups of our evolutionary...

A pair of thylacines, a male and female, c. 1905. Image credit: Smithsonian Institutional Archives / E. J. Keller, National Zoological Park.

Study Sheds New Light on Striking Similarities between Tasmanian Tiger and Wolves

Oct 3, 2019 by News Staff

The Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also known as the thylacine, was a carnivorous marsupial found throughout most of Tasmania before European...

Wells et al performed genome-wide association studies for two self-reported hearing phenotypes, using more than 250,000 UK Biobank volunteers aged between 40 and 69 years. Image credit: Pexels.

Researchers Identify 44 Genes Involved in Age-Related Hearing Loss

Sep 27, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists from King’s College London, University College London and the University of Manchester has identified 44 genes linked to age-related...

Schematic overview of interactions between Porites lutea and its microbial symbionts. Image credit: Robbins et al, doi: 10.1038/s41564-019-0532-4.

Researchers Sequence Genomes of Reef-Building Coral and Its Microbial Symbionts

Sep 24, 2019 by News Staff

A team of Australian scientists has successfully completed an integrated genomic characterization of a reef-building coral species called Porites lutea...

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). Image credit: Michael Van Woert / NOAA NESDIS / ORA.

Researchers Sequence Genomes of All Living Penguin Species

Sep 20, 2019 by News Staff

Scientists from the Penguin Genome Consortium have produced 19 high-coverage penguin genome sequences that, together with two previously published genomes,...

A portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA methylation maps. Image credit: Maayan Harel.

Scientists Reconstruct Skeletal Anatomy of Denisovans

Sep 19, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Israel and Spain has produced reconstructions of Denisovans, an extinct sister group of Neanderthals, based on patterns of methylation...

The language brain regions were more coordinated in left-handers between the two sides of the brain (in green and orange) and were also connected by the white matter tracts influenced by one genetic region related to handedness (in blue). Image credit: Gwenaëlle Douaud, University of Oxford.

Scientists Identify Four Genetic Regions Associated with Left-Handedness

Sep 11, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Oxford has identified four regions of the human genome associated with left-handedness in the general population...

Hoaxed photo of the Loch Ness ‘monster’ from April 21, 1934.

Scientists Find Significant Amount of Eel DNA in Loch Ness

Sep 10, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has announced the results of investigations into the environmental DNA (eDNA) present in Loch Ness, a large freshwater...

An artist’s reconstruction of the gateway and drain at the ancient city of Harappa. Image credit: Chris Sloan.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Ancient Harappan Woman

Sep 9, 2019 by News Staff

A multinational team of scientists has sequenced the first genome of an individual from the Harappan Civilization. The genome, which belongs to a woman...

Weekend recovery sleep doesn’t prevent weight gain or reduce insulin sensitivity. Image credit: Wok & Apix.

Researchers Identify Second Short-Sleep Gene

Sep 4, 2019 by News Staff

Sleep is crucial for our survival, and many conditions, including cancer, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s, are linked to...

Albino (left) and wild-type (right) anole lizards. Image credit: Rasys et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.07.089.

Researchers Create Albino Lizards Using CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing

Sep 3, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Georgia has used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to engineer brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) with transmissible mutations...

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