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Fifteen moais of Ahu Tongariki. Image credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Easter Island Inhabitants Had Contact with South Americans in 1300-1500

Oct 24, 2014 by News Staff

Evidence for contact between the ancient Rapanui people (inhabitants of Easter Island) and the indigenous peoples of South America sometime between approximately...

Left: map of Siberia with major archaeological sites: 1- Ust’-Ishim; 2 - Chagyrskaya Cave (Neanderthal fossils); 3 - Okladnikov Cave (Neanderthal fossils); 4: Denisova Cave (Denisovan fossils); 5: Kara-Bom (Upper Paleolithic site). Right: the Ust’-Ishim femur: lateral and posterior views. Image credit: Qiaomei Fu et al.

Genetic Researchers Sequence Genome of 45,000-Year-Old Siberian Man

Oct 23, 2014 by News Staff

A large team of genetic scientists led by Dr Qiaomei Fu of Harvard Medical School has recovered and sequenced the DNA from a thighbone of a male hunter-gatherer...

Consuming the equivalent caffeine intake of four cups of coffee or tea a day may be beneficial in preventing and protecting against the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in humans. Image credit: University of Maryland.

It’s in Genes! Scientists Identify Six New Genetic Variants Associated with Habitual Coffee Drinking

Oct 8, 2014 by News Staff

A large team of researchers who are part of the Coffee and Caffeine Genetics Consortium has identified six new genetic variants associated with habitual...

Monarch butterflies cluster in Santa Cruz, California. Image credit: Brocken Inaglory / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Monarch Butterfly’s Genetic Secrets Revealed

Oct 2, 2014 by News Staff

By analyzing the genome sequences of 101 monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) from around the world, a team of genetic researchers headed by Dr Marcus...

Female and male Northern white-cheeked gibbon. Image credit: Linda, Jinterwas / CC BY 2.0.

Scientists Sequence Gibbon Genome

Sep 11, 2014 by News Staff

A large team of genetic researchers from the United States, Europe and China has sequenced and analyzed the complete genome of the Northern white-cheeked...

Berries of Coffea canephora. Image credit: © 2010. Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Genetic Researchers Sequence Genome of Robusta Coffee

Sep 5, 2014 by News Staff

A large team of scientists led by Dr Philippe Lashermes of the French Institute of Research for Development has generated a high-quality draft genome of...

The European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. Image credit: J.J. Harrison / CC BY-SA 3.0.

DNA Study Shines New Light on Rabbit Domestication

Aug 30, 2014 by News Staff

According to genetic researchers headed by Prof Leif Andersson of Texas A&M University, Uppsala University and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,...

An adult male of the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica. Image credit: Richard E. Lee Jr.

Belgica antarctica: Antarctic Midge Has Smallest Insect Genome

Aug 13, 2014 by News Staff

According to a team of genetic researchers headed by Prof David Denlinger of the Ohio State University, the Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica) has the...

Spotted Green Pigeon is Distinct Species, DNA Study Proves

Aug 5, 2014 by News Staff

New genetic research conducted by scientists from Griffith University in Nathan, Australia, and the Natural History Museum in Tring, UK, has confirmed...

Illustration of a DNA molecule. Image credit: Christoph Bock, Max Planck Institute for Informatics / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Only 8.2 % of Human DNA is Functional, Say Genetic Researchers

Jul 30, 2014 by News Staff

According to a group of genetic scientists led by Dr Gerton Lunter of the University of Oxford’s Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, only 8.2 percent...

The common wheat, Triticum aestivum. Image credit: Matt Lavin, Bozeman, Montana / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Genetic Researchers Unveil Draft Sequence of Wheat Genome

Jul 18, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium have published a draft sequence of the genome of the common wheat (Triticum aestivum). The...

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.

Bigfoot, Yeti? Hair Samples Match DNA from Paleolithic Polar Bear, Known Mammals

Jul 7, 2014 by Sergio Prostak

The first ever systematic genetic analysis of evidence purporting to be from so-called anomalous primates such as yeti and migoi in the Himalaya, almasty...

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

Tibetans Inherit Super-Athlete Gene from Denisovans

Jul 3, 2014 by News Staff

Tibetans were able to adapt to high altitudes thanks to what is sometimes called the super-athlete gene, or more prosaically, EPAS1, they acquired when...

Genetic Researchers Solve Mystery of Electric Fish

Jun 27, 2014 by News Staff

A new study led by Prof Michael Sussman from the University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrates that six electric fish lineages – Torpediniformes,...

Eucalyptus grandis. Image credit: HelloMojo.

Genetic Researchers Sequence Genome of Eucalyptus grandis

Jun 13, 2014 by News Staff

A large international team of scientists has sequenced and analyzed the 640 million base pair genome of Eucalyptus grandis (known as the Flooded Gum or...

Domestic sheep. Image credit: Jaime Vasquez Sapunar / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Domestic Sheep Genome Sequenced

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

Genetic researchers from the International Sheep Genomics Consortium have sequenced the complete genome of domestic sheep (Ovis aries). Domestic sheep....

The elephant bird Aepyornis maximus, left, and a male and a juvenile of the Great spotted kiwi, Apteryx haastii. Credit: Delaware Museum of Natural History / John Gerrard Keulemans.

Kiwi Closely Related to Madagascan Elephant Birds

May 23, 2014 by News Staff

The kiwi (Apteryx spp.), a national symbol of New Zealand, is most closely related to members of the family Aepyornithidae – enormous, flightless...

Termite mound. Image credit: Lothar Herzog / CC BY 2.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Nevada Dampwood Termite

May 21, 2014 by News Staff

Genetic researchers led by Dr Jürgen Liebig of Arizona State University have sequenced the genome of the Nevada dampwood termite (Zootermopsis nevadensis). Simplified...

Unexpected meeting with Shrek in the Universal Studios. Image credit: Aaron Jacobs / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Scientists Find Possible Way to Silence Fear Gene

May 9, 2014 by News Staff

Australian researchers led by Dr Timothy Bredy of the University of Queensland’s Queensland Brain Institute say they may have found a way to silence...