Genetics News

Phoenician ‘Young Man of Byrsa’ Had European Ancestry, DNA Study Finds

Ariche, the Carthaginian man. Image credit: M. Rais.
May 25, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists from Lebanon, Tunisia, France and New Zealand has sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the ‘Young Man of Byrsa, or ‘Ariche,’ a Phoenician who lived in Carthage in the 6th century BC. Ariche, the Carthaginian man. Image credit: M. Rais. “The Phoenicians are recognized as one of the great early civilizations of the Mediterranean,” said study co-leader Prof. Lisa Matisoo-Smith from the University...

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Image showing variation between nose shape and the specific genes responsible. Image credit: Kaustubh Adhikari / University College London.

Four Nose-Shaping Genes Identified

May 19, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A multinational team of researchers led by University College London (UCL) has found four genes that impact nose shape. Image showing variation between...

A Masai giraffe in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Image credit: Sajjad F. / CC BY 3.0.

Genome Reveals Clues to Giraffe’s Unique Characteristics

May 18, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international team of researchers has sequenced the genomes of the giraffe and its closest living relative, the okapi, and — through comparative...

Spatial frequency distribution map of haplogroup R0a. Image credit: Francesca Gandini et al.

Humans Arrived in Southern Arabia Earlier Than Thought

May 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of genetic researchers from the United States and Europe has found new evidence that there was an Ice Age refugium in southern Arabia. Spatial...

A common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Image credit: Dakota L. / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers Identify Gene for Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination in Snapping Turtles

May 6, 2016 by News Staff

In a paper published in the journal Genetics, scientists from the University of North Dakota and the University of Minnesota present multiple lines of...

Ancient DNA Study Sheds New Light on Genetic History of Europeans

May 3, 2016 by News Staff

Analyses of genome-wide data from 51 Eurasians from 7,000 – 45,000 years ago reveal two big changes in prehistoric human populations that are closely...

The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus). Image credit: Solenodon Joe / CC BY 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Hispaniolan Solenodon

May 3, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has completely sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the Hispaniolan solenodon (a venomous, insectivorous mammal that...

Normal anatomy of the human eye and orbit, anterior view. Image credit: Patrick J. Lynch / CC BY 2.5.

Researchers Identify Genetic Cause of Epithelial Recurrent Erosion Dystrophy

Apr 26, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from New Zealand, Australia and the UK — including Prof. Colin Willoughby from the University of Liverpool —...

The team has found a genetic overlap between happiness and depression. Image credit: Jill Wellington.

Scientists Identify Genes Associated with Happiness and Depression

Apr 25, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a large-scale international study, researchers have identified three genetic variants associated with subjective well-being (happiness), two variants...

The medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis) diverged in beak size from the large ground finch (Geospiza magnirostris) on Daphne Major Island, Galápagos following a severe drought. Image credit: Peter R. Grant.

Genomic Analysis of Darwin’s Finches Identifies Gene behind ‘Evolution in Action’

Apr 22, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Uppsala University and Princeton University has identified a specific gene that within a year helped spur a permanent...

Reconstruction of the giant, short-faced North American bear Arctodus simus. Image credit: Daniel Reed / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Reveals Convergent Evolution of Giant Bears in the Americas

Apr 20, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

A study led by Dr. Kieren Mitchell of the University of Adelaide sheds new light on the evolution of what are believed to be the largest bears that ever...

Ashkenazi Jews of 19th century Eastern Europe portrayed in Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, by Maurycy Gottlieb, 1878 (from Jewish Art, p. 199).

Yiddish Language was Invented by Slavo-Iranian Jewish Merchants, Scientists Say

Apr 19, 2016 by News Staff

A new tool called the Geographic Population Structure (GPS), which converts DNA data into its ancestral coordinates, has pinpointed origin of Yiddish speakers,...

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Genetic Scientists Complete First Analysis of Neanderthal Y Chromosome

Apr 8, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Neanderthal Y-chromosome genes disappeared from the genome of modern humans long ago, suggests a new study published this week in the American Journal...

The Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla ssp. gorilla). Image credit: Jack Hynes / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Western Lowland Gorilla Genome Mapped with New Level of Accuracy

Apr 1, 2016 by News Staff

The genome of the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla ssp. gorilla) has been sequenced at a high level of quality beginning to approach that of the...

Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Scientists Produce Map of Neanderthal, Denisovan Ancestry in Present-Day Humans

Mar 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Dr. David Reich from Harvard Medical School and his colleagues have produced a world map of Denisovan and Neanderthal ancestry in 120 diverse populations....

This electron micrograph shows particles of the Phoenix provirus resurrected from human DNA in 2006. Scale bar - 200 nm (Marie Dewannieux et al).

Nineteen New Pieces of Ancient Retroviral DNA Found in Human Genome

Mar 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Nineteen previously unidentified pieces of non-human DNA — left by retroviruses that first infected human ancestors hundreds of thousands of years...

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

Denisovan DNA Found in Modern-Day Melanesians

Mar 18, 2016 by News Staff

Residents of the Pacific islands of Melanesia share fragments of genetic code with two early human species: Denisovans, whose remains were found in Siberia,...

Sima de los Huesos hominins lived in what is now Spain about 400,000 years ago. Image credit: © Kennis & Kennis / Madrid Scientific Films.

Sima de los Huesos Hominins Were Actually Early Neanderthals, Say Anthropologists

Mar 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The first analysis of nuclear DNA from Sima de los Huesos hominins, conducted by Dr. Matthias Meyer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology...

At the top are shown drawings illustrating the seven hair features examined in this study; thick lines connect these features with the candidate genes identified in regions with single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reaching genome-wide significant association. At the bottom is shown a composite Manhattan plot displaying all significantly associated SNPs for the hair features examined; the rs number of the SNP with the smallest P value is shown at the top of each association peak. Image credit: Kaustubh Adhikari et al., doi: 10.1038/ncomms10815.

Researchers Identify Gene for Gray Hair: IRF4

Mar 1, 2016 by News Staff

The first gene identified for graying hair has been discovered by an international team of researchers. At the top are shown drawings illustrating the...

This is an illustrated rendition of two male glyptodonts (Doedicurus clavicaudatus); massive, club-shaped tails were probably used more for intraspecific combat than defense against predators. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Researchers Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Glyptodont

Feb 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international group of scientists has successfully sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of the ancient glyptodont – a heavily armored herbivorous...

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