Genetics News | Sci.News

Some of the Botai horses were found to carry genetic variants causing white and leopard coat spotting patterns. Image credit: Ludovic Orlando / Sean Goddard / Alan Outram.

Research Sheds New Light on Origins of Domestic and Przewalski’s Horses

Feb 26, 2018 by News Staff

New research overturns a long-held assumption that Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii), a rare and endangered animal native to the steppes...

Cheddar Man’s facial reconstruction. Image credit: University College London / Natural History Museum, London / Tom Barnes / Channel 4.

Cheddar Man’s Face Revealed

Feb 20, 2018 by News Staff

Cheddar Man — a hunter-gatherer who lived 10,000 years ago — had blue eyes, dark colored curly hair and ‘dark to black’ skin pigmentation,...

The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). Image credit: Ben Pélissié / University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Colorado Potato Beetle

Feb 1, 2018 by News Staff

Researchers have for the first time mapped the entire genome of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), one of the most challenging agricultural...

The Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum). Image credit: Bouboulski / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Axolotl Genome Sequenced

Jan 31, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of researchers has successfully sequenced, assembled and analyzed the genome of the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), an enigmatic...

According to Seaborne et al, ‘muscle memory’ exists at DNA level. Image credit: Composita.

Human Muscles Possess ‘Memory’ of Earlier Growth — at DNA Level: Study

Jan 31, 2018 by News Staff

Human skeletal muscles have an epigenetic memory of earlier encounters with growth, according to a Keele University-led study. According to Seaborne et...

Liu et al demonstrate that induced pluripotency can be achieved through targeted activation of endogenous Oct4 or Sox2 genes. With CRISPR activation, the promoter and enhancer are specifically remodeled, Oct4 or Sox2 is derepressed in fibroblasts, and reprogramming is triggered toward pluripotency. Image credit: Liu et al, doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.12.001.

Scientists Create First Stem Cells Using CRISPR Technology

Jan 20, 2018 by News Staff

In a scientific first, a research team led by Gladstone Institutes scientists turned mouse skin cells into so-called induced pluripotent stem cells by...

European river lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) in Pirita river, Estonia. Image credit: Tiit Hunt / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Genes that Repair Spinal Cord in Fish also Present in Mammals, Researchers Discover

Jan 18, 2018 by News Staff

Many of the genes involved in natural repair of the injured spinal cord of a fish called the lamprey are also active in the repair of the peripheral nervous...

A scientific illustration of the Upward Sun River camp in what is now Interior Alaska. Image credit: Eric S. Carlson / Ben A. Potter.

Ancient Beringians: 11,500-Year-Old Genome Reveals Previously Unknown Native American Population

Jan 4, 2018 by News Staff

Genetic analysis of DNA from a female infant found at the Upward Sun River archaeological site in Alaska has revealed a previously unknown Native American...

Iberian ribbed newts (Pleurodeles waltl). Image credit: Peter Halasz / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Salamander Genome

Dec 22, 2017 by Natali Anderson

An international team of researchers led by Karolinska Institutet scientists has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of a species of salamander...

Andatu, the first Sumatran rhino to be born at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, and his mother, Ratu. Image credit: S. Ellis / International Rhino Foundation / CC BY 2.0.

Sumatran Rhinoceros Genome Sequenced

Dec 15, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has produced the first whole-genome sequence for the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), the...

DNA rendering of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa viewed with atomic force microscopy. Image credit: Tikhomirov et al.

Researchers ‘Paint’ World’s Smallest Mona Lisa

Dec 11, 2017 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Caltech has created the smallest version of the Mona Lisa ever — out of DNA. The work is described in a paper appearing in...

The Indian chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum indicum). Image credit: KENPEI / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Chrysanthemum Genome Sequenced

Dec 8, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and the Amway Botanical Research Center...

The high-quality genome sequence of the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) provides a useful resource for plant comparative genomics studies and cucurbit improvement. Image credit: Alice Paipai.

Scientists Sequence Calabash Genome

Dec 4, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has produced the first high-quality genome sequence for the bottle gourd, also known as calabash, and reconstructed...

A still frame from the Patterson-Gimlin film, a famous motion picture of an unidentified subject filmed on October 20, 1967 by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin on Bluff Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River about 25 road miles north-west of Orleans, California.

Purported Yeti Samples Are Genetically Identical to Asian Bears, DNA Study Says

Nov 30, 2017 by News Staff

The Yeti, a mysterious ‘hominid’-like creature said to inhabit the high mountains of Asia, looms large in the mythology of Nepal and Tibet. Now, a...

A field of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Ukraine. Image credit: Oleksii Alieksieiev.

Researchers Piece Together Bread Wheat Genome

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University, Pacific Biosciences, and Earlham Institute has produced the first near-complete...

Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Image credit: Utente.

Rare Gene Mutation Linked to Longer Lifespan in Amish

Nov 17, 2017 by News Staff

A rare loss-of-function mutation in a gene called SERPINE1 identified among Old Order Amish in Indiana is associated with a longer lifespan, improved metabolism...

The Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii), also known as the rough-spike hard grass, is a self-pollinating goatgrass species in the Triticeae tribe of the grass family. It is native to temperate Asia and the tropical Asian Indian Subcontinent, the Caucasus region in Eurasia, and Ukraine in Eastern Europe. Image credit: Patrick McGuire / University of California.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Tausch’s Goatgrass, Wild Ancestor of Bread Wheat

Nov 16, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by the University of California, Davis, has sequenced the genome of the Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii),...

Marchantia polymorpha. Image credit: Holger Casselmann / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Common Liverwort

Nov 7, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has mapped and analyzed the genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a species of land plant found around the...

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) at the Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia. Image credit: Tracy O / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Study: Male Woolly Mammoths More Often Fell into Natural Traps

Nov 6, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by the Swedish Museum of Natural History has discovered that fossilized remains of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus...