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This is an artist’s rendition of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). Image credit: Flying Puffin / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Wrangel Island Mammoths Experienced ‘Genomic Meltdown’ Just Prior to Extinction, Says New Study

Mar 3, 2017 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, dwindling populations created a ‘mutational meltdown’ in the genomes of the last wooly...

According to Soderquest et al, T-bet plays an important role in coordinating the body’s immune responses. Image credit: Werbe Fabrik.

‘Molecular Switch’ that Causes Mucosal Autoimmune Diseases Discovered

Feb 21, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to an international team of researchers led by University College London and King’s College London, the discovery of a ‘molecular switch’...

Eirini Marouli et al report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies and effects of up to 2 cm per allele, greater than ten times the average effect of common variants. Image credit: Popular Science Monthly, D. Appleton and Company, 1887.

Researchers Find New Genetic Variants that Influence Human Adult Height

Feb 1, 2017 by News Staff

Eighty-three height-associated genetic variants have been discovered in a large-scale study led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London, Montreal...

Roasted beans of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). Image credit: University of California, Davis.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Arabica Coffee

Jan 17, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by University of California, Davis, geneticists has publicly released the first public genome sequence of Arabica...

The ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) is one of Europe’s largest native deciduous trees. Image credit: Matthieu Sontag / CC-BY-SA.

Genome of Ash Tree Aids Fight against Ash Dieback Disease

Dec 27, 2016 by News Staff

The ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) is one of Europe’s largest native deciduous trees. Image credit: Matthieu Sontag / CC-BY-SA. Ash trees (genus Fraxinus)...

The bony armor on the body of this gulf pipefish, raised in the lab of Prof. Cresko, is not yet well ossified and appears mostly transparent; bones are stained red; cartilage is stained blue. Image credit: Mark Currey.

Gulf Pipefish Genome Sequenced

Dec 26, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Oregon and Texas A&M University has sequenced and explored the genome of the gulf pipefish (Syngnathus...

‘Junzao’ jujube in Xinjiang, China. Image credit: Xingang Li.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Dry Jujube

Dec 23, 2016 by News Staff

The high quality genome sequence of the dry jujube cultivar ‘Junzao,’ along with sequences from trees throughout its range, have illuminated the domestication...

Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Inuits Inherited Cold Adaptation Genes from Denisovan-Related Species

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

In the Arctic, the Inuits have adapted to cold and a seafood diet. After the first genomic analysis of Greenlandic Inuits, a region in the genome containing...

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus): a female lynx with two cubs. Image credit: Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Iberian Lynx

Dec 15, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers in Spain has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), the world’s most endangered feline...

This transmission electron micrograph depicts a number of variola virions. Image credit: Fred Murphy & Sylvia Whitfield / CDC.

New Genetic Research Rewrites Evolutionary History of Smallpox

Dec 8, 2016 by News Staff

New research suggests that smallpox may not be an ancient disease but a much more modern killer that went on to become the first human disease eradicated...

As computer models predicted, genetically modified plants are better able to make use of the limited sunlight available when their leaves go into the shade. Image credit: Julie McMahon.

New Biotechnology Increases Crop Yield by 20%

Dec 1, 2016 by Marcus Nield

Scientists from the University of Illinois have boosted crop yields in a revolutionary procedure that genetically enhances photosynthesis. The UN claims...

Super-resolution microscopy of GapmeR co-localization with SNX5 protein -- a member of the sorting nexin family of proteins -- in human T-cells. Image credit: Fazil, M. H. U. T. et al, doi: 10.1038/srep37721.

Researchers Develop New Method for Silencing Specific Genes in Human T-Cells

Nov 30, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, has developed a novel technique for gene silencing in human T-lymphocytes...

A 5,310-year-old maize cob from Tehuacan, Mexico. Image credit: Bruce Smith.

Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into Early Stages of Maize Domestication

Nov 23, 2016 by News Staff

According to an international team of scientists who have sequenced the genome of a 5,310-year-old maize cob from the Tehuacan Valley, the maize (Zea mays)...

Ginkgo biloba. Image credit: Darkone / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Researchers Decode Genome of Ginkgo biloba

Nov 22, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists in China has sequenced the genome of Ginkgo biloba, the oldest living tree species. Ginkgo biloba. Image credit: Darkone / CC BY-SA...

Mouse song system anatomy and syllable types: (A) proposed anatomy of the rudimentary mouse forebrain vocal communication circuit; (B) comparison with human; (C) comparison with songbird; (D) sonograms of examples syllables of the four syllable categories quantified from a C57 male mouse USV song, labeled according to pitch jumps. Anatomical abbreviations: ADSt - anterior dorsal striatum; Amb - nucleus ambiguous; ASt - anterior striatum; aT - anterior thalamus; Av - nucleus avalanche; HVC - a letter-based name; LArea X - lateral Area X; LMO - lateral mesopallium oval nucleus; LMAN - lateral magnocellular nucleus of the nidopallium; LMC - laryngeal motor cortex; LSC - laryngeal somatosensory cortex; M1 - primary motor cortex; M2 - secondary motor cortex; NIf - interfacial nucleus of the nidopallium; PAG - periaqueductal gray; RA - robust nucleus of the arcopallium; T - thalamus; VL - ventral lateral nucleus of the thalamus; XIIts - 12th vocal motor nucleus, tracheosyringeal part. Image credit: Jonathan Chabout et al, doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00197.

Study: Gene Implicated in Human Language Affects Vocal Communication in Mice

Nov 18, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, ultrasonic vocal communication in adult mice is affected by the...

Trypanosoma cruzi, a parasite of the order Kinetoplastida. Image credit: Myron Schultz / CDC.

Scientists Demonstrate that Diets of Organisms Can Affect Their DNA

Nov 17, 2016 by News Staff

In a study on eukaryotic and bacterial parasites, a duo of researchers at the University of Oxford has detected differences in DNA sequences that could...

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Natural Selection Removed Many Neanderthal Genes from Human Genome, Scientists Say

Nov 11, 2016 by News Staff

According to a team of researchers at the University of California, Davis, only a very small percentage of Neanderthal DNA is present in the genomes of...

Amur leopard cub at Tallinn Zoo, Estonia. Image credit: Sini Merikallio / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Amur Leopard Genome Sequence Completed

Nov 3, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has sequenced the complete genome of the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), one of the most critically endangered...

Structure of the human mitochondrial genome. Image credit: Shanel / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Study Confirms Genetic Link between Autism Spectrum Disorder and mtDNA

Nov 3, 2016 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal PLoS Genetics has confirmed a genetic link between mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on from the mother, and some...