Genetics

  1. A photo of several different breeds of dogs standing on concrete.
    Animals

    What the first look at the genetics of Chernobyl’s dogs revealed

    Dogs living in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant industrial area are genetically distinct from other dogs, but scientists don’t yet know if radiation is the reason.

    By Meghan Rosen
  2. Three up close photos of index fingers with purple lines drawn on each to show their fingerprint shape. The first on the left shows the arch shape, the second in the middle shows the loop shape and the third on the right shows the whorl shape.
    Health & Medicine

    How fingerprints form was a mystery — until now

    A theory proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing in the 1950s helps explain how fingerprint patterns such as arches and whorls arise.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  3. an illustration of a DNA helix with hands inserting missing peices on either side
    Genetics

    50 years ago, scientists sequenced a gene for the first time

    Within five decades, scientists went from sequencing a single gene to sequencing the entire human genome.

    By Cassie Martin
  4. A photo of a California market squid hatchling
    Life

    Squid edit their RNA to keep cellular supply lines moving in the cold

    Squid change their RNA more often in the cold, producing motor proteins that keep cellular cargo on track.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  5. A house mouse eating on the ground
    Animals

    A natural gene drive could steer invasive rodents on islands to extinction

    A few genetic tweaks to a readily passed-on chunk of DNA could sterilize a mouse population, eliminating them in as little as 25 years.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  6. Four people with masks on, stand behind a roulette table
    Health & Medicine

    DNA is providing new clues to why COVID-19 hits people differently

    Age, general health and vaccinations can affect how sick people get with COVID-19. So can genes. Here are new hints of what’s going on in our DNA.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  7. Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of the fungus Aspergillus nidulans shows fungal growths that look like broccoli clusters
    Microbes

    How fungi make potent toxins that can contaminate food

    Genetically engineering Aspergillus fungi to delete certain proteins stops the production of mycotoxins that can be dangerous to human health.

    By Deborah Balthazar
  8. An illustration of a Siberian Neandertal father carrying his young daughter on his shoulders.
    Genetics

    Ancient DNA unveils Siberian Neandertals’ small-scale social lives

    Females often moved into their mate’s communities, which totaled about 20 individuals, researchers say.

    By Bruce Bower
  9. archaeologists excavating graves of plague victims at a London cemetery
    Genetics

    Black Death immunity came at a cost to modern-day health

    A genetic variant that boosts Crohn’s disease risk may have helped people survive the 14th century bubonic plague known as the Black Death.

    By Wynne Parry
  10. composite of two images of a children with blonde, unruly hair
    Genetics

    Can’t comb your kid’s hair? This gene may be to blame

    Scientists linked variants of one hair shaft gene to most of the uncombable hair syndrome cases they tested.

    By Meghan Rosen
  11. a mother and baby donkey with dark brown fur stand in a field with trees in the background
    Animals

    DNA reveals donkeys were domesticated 7,000 years ago in East Africa

    When and where donkeys were domesticated has been a long-standing mystery. DNA now reveals they were tamed much earlier than horses.

    By Freda Kreier
  12. a child holding a glass of milk grimaces
    Anthropology

    Famine and disease may have driven ancient Europeans’ lactose tolerance

    Dealing with food shortages and infections over thousands of years, not widespread milk consumption, may be how an ability to digest dairy evolved.

    By Bruce Bower