Tag Archives: genetic

You and some ‘cavemen’ get a genetic checkup

Evolution has weeded out genetic variants associated with diseases for millennia and propagated variants that protect against ailments, a comparative genetics study shows. But in the last 500 to 1,000 years that trend appears to have changed. Is the apparent … Continue reading

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Genetic ‘fossils’ reveal long-term viral partnerships in grass

Defective viruses incorporated into grass genomes may adapt to form partnerships with other genome-incorporated viruses in order to complete their life cycle, according to a new study. The findings suggest that partner viruses evolve in concert, enabling them to maintain … Continue reading

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Genetic study shakes up the elephant family tree

New research reveals that a species of giant elephant that lived 1.5 million to 100,000 years ago — ranging across Eurasia before it went extinct — is more closely related to today’s African forest elephant than the forest elephant is … Continue reading

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Genetic evidence points to nocturnal early mammals

New genetic evidence suggesting that early mammals had good night-time vision adds to fossil and behavioral studies indicating that early mammals were nocturnal. Paleontology News — ScienceDaily

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Scientists map the genetic evolution of dinoflagellates for the primary time

Scientists have used new genetic sequencing knowledge to know how an historic organism that lived alongside the dinosaurs has advanced over tens of millions of years. The effort has uncovered for the primary time the biology and evolution of dinoflagellates, … Continue reading

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Certain corals, with high genetic diversity, may adapt to climate change

Half of all coral species in the Caribbean went extinct between 1 and 2 million years ago, probably due to drastic environmental changes. Which ones survived? Scientists think one group of survivors, corals in the genus Orbicella, will continue to … Continue reading

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Genetic ?trace? in Papuan genomes suggests two expansions out of Africa

A new study of human genomic diversity suggests there may have in fact been two successful dispersals out of Africa, and that a ?trace? of the earlier of these two expansion events has lingered in the genetics of modern Papuans. … Continue reading

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Inbred Neanderthals left humans a genetic burden

The Neanderthal genome included harmful mutations that made the hominids around 40% less reproductively fit than modern humans, according to estimates published in the latest issue of the journal GENETICS. Non-African humans inherited some of this genetic burden when they … Continue reading

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400,000-year-old fossils from Spain provide earliest genetic evidence of Neandertals

Previous analyses of the hominins from Sima de los Huesos in 2013 showed that their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA was distantly related to Denisovans, extinct relatives of Neandertals in Asia. This was unexpected since their skeletal remains carry Neandertal-derived features. … Continue reading

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Two Penn professors call attention to the use of race in human genetic research

Two University of Pennsylvania professors are coauthors, along with two other scholars, on a perspective piece published this week in the journal Science that calls for an end to the use of genetic concepts of race in biological research. read … Continue reading

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