The discovery of a cluster of 12 genetically related children diagnosed with autism has renewed questions into the role DNA plays in causing autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. The children in question are all related through a common sperm donor that provided reproductive material to numerous sperm banks, resulting inread more
Advances in the analysis of ancient DNA have upended the scientific community’s view of how human populations migrated both into and around the North and South American continents, illustrating the rapid and complex movement of humanity into the western hemisphere towards the end of the last ice age. Aside from unraveling more of the mystery of the origins of the Americas’ first inhabitants, the studies also aided in the repatriation of a long-lost ancestor of a Native American tribe in Nevada, and the discovery of an individual with DNA from Australia that lived on the east coast of modern-day Brazil — over 10,000 years ago.
read more
A new study into the 651 genes associated with autism has been published in the medical research journal Behavior Genetics. The findings of the study, conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), lays new groundwork for understanding the biological processes involved in the condition, one that now affects one in fifty children in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control.
read more
Earth is a treasure trove of biodiversity, with over 8.7 million known species alive today, and that only represents an estimated 20 percent of all of the existing species that currently exist. But despite the sheer diversity of lifeforms, be it plant, animal, or microbe, we all share a common single-celled ancestor that started to diverge into new species 1.6 billion years ago. And because of that common ancestor, all species have a lot in common when it comes to our DNA: chimpanzees are nearly genetically identical to us; we share 69 percent of our genetic makeup with the otherwise oddball platypus; and we have even one-quarter of our code in common with rice.
read more