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Genetics

A museum-goer looks at a Vincent van Gogh painting.

New Research

The Relaxation of Regularly Listening to Songs or Drawing Pictures May Actually Slow Cellular Aging, New Research Shows

According to a new study, people who are exposed to art on a weekly basis are about a year younger “biologically” than those exposed only once or twice per year

Indigenous communities in the Andes domesticated the potato between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Potatoes Didn’t Just Feed Ancient Indigenous Communities in the Andes—the Tasty Tubers Also Reshaped People’s DNA

A new study finds that Indigenous Andeans living in what is now Peru have extra copies of a gene called AMY1, which helps the body digest starch

Analysis of a skeleton from an early medieval site

New Research

The Fall of the Roman Empire Was Less a Clash of Civilizations and More an Opportunity to Mix and Mingle, a New Genetics Study Shows

Researchers who analyzed genomes from early medieval graves in modern-day Germany hypothesize that people from the former Roman Empire formed families with Germanic people soon after the empire fell

About 47 percent of wolves in Italy are considered wolf-dog hybrids, according to a recent genetic analysis.

Nearly Half of Italy’s Wolves Are Part Dog Now, Thanks to Hybridization. Is That a Threat to the Species?

Wolf-dog hybrids are growing far more common in Italy, raising scientists’ concerns for the future of the wolves

Microscope image of a cross-section of a mouse nose. The animal was genetically altered so that its nerve cells used for smell glow green. Some dying nerve cells appear red.

Scientists Create the First Detailed ‘Smell Map’ of Odor Sensors in the Mouse Nose—and Sniff Out Some Surprising Discoveries

In two new studies, researchers used genetic techniques to upend a longstanding assumption that nerve cells with scent detectors were randomly arranged. They don’t know whether the same spatial organization is found in human noses

Newborns usually go through tests to determine whether they have hearing problems. Undiagnosed issues can delay developmental milestones.

The FDA Approves the First-Ever Gene Therapy for Deafness, Which Aims to Restore Hearing in Kids With a Rare Inherited Condition

The agency’s decision is based on results from a clinical trial in which the treatment improved hearing in 80 percent of the pediatric participants. However, Deaf community advocates worry about the push to cure hearing loss

Scientists now think humans settled South America in three waves.

A New Big Database of DNA From Indigenous Americans Shakes Up Scientists’ Theories About Human Settlement of South America

Genomic data provides evidence for a previously unknown wave of migration, with Indigenous groups living in central and southern Mexico spreading into South America and the Caribbean starting around 1,300 years ago

The two-toned lobster will go on display at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium when it reopens next year.

See the 1-in-50-Million Split-Color Lobster Caught Off the Coast of Massachusetts. It’s Carrying Two Sets of Genetic Information

The unusual-looking crustacean is two-toned, with a line dividing its body into an orange side and a brown side. This can happen when two fertilized, unlaid lobster eggs touch—causing one to absorb the other

New research indicates that Neanderthals had the genetic hardware for language.

Did Neanderthals Have Language? New Research Suggests They Had the Genetic Hardware for It, Like Humans

Specific genomic regions that seem to play a role in human language development evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago, before humans and Neanderthals diverged from a common ancestor, a new study finds

Neanderthals survived from roughly 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, when they mysteriously disappeared.

What Killed the Neanderthals? New Research Suggests a Lack of Genetic Diversity May Be Partially to Blame

When the climate cooled, the population of Neanderthals shrank. Most that lived between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago were descended from the same lineage and had very similar DNA

Natural selection has been playing a bigger role in changing modern human DNA than previously thought, according to a new study.

Humans Are Still Evolving. Natural Selection Has Favored Genes Linked to Red Hair and Less Male-Pattern Baldness, a Study Suggests

A massive study of ancient and modern DNA from thousands of West Eurasian people has identified nearly 500 genetic variants that evolution has selected for or against in recent history

Biologists with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are working hard to eradicate nutria from the state.

Large Invasive Rodents Are Wreaking Havoc in California. New Research Suggests Someone Deliberately Introduced Them

Genetic testing revealed that nutria living in California since 2017 are most closely related to a population in central Oregon—too far for the creatures to have traveled on their own

Cow sharks (one shown) and frilled sharks are members of the newly proposed lineage.

What Is a Shark? A New Genetic Analysis Throws an ‘Unexpected Wrench’ Into Our Understanding of the Ocean Predators

Some shark species might belong to their own distinct lineage, which is separate from all other sharks, rays and skates, according to a new study

Tobacco plants make a lot of the amino acid tryptophan, the basis of many psychoactive compounds.

Scientists Engineered Tobacco Plants to Produce Five Mind-Altering Psychedelic Compounds

The substances have been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, but they’ve recently become popular as possible therapeutics for mental health conditions

Pinot noir grapes in Verzenay, France

New Research

Scientists Say This 600-Year-Old Grape Seed Is ‘Genetically Identical’ to Modern Varieties Used to Make Pinot Noir

Researchers analyzed grape seeds dating to between 2300 B.C.E. and 1500 C.E., including one particularly intriguing sample found in the toilet of a medieval hospital in France

The cockapoo, a mix between the cocker spaniel and poodle, had the most behavioral problems of all analyzed crossbreeds compared to its purebred progenitor breeds.

Contrary to Popular Belief, Some Doodle Crossbred Dogs May Have More Behavioral Problems Than Their Purebred Parents

Pet owners often pick “designer dogs” because they think they’ll be easier to train and friendlier with kids than purebreeds. A new study suggests that’s not always the case

The asteroid Ryugu imaged by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft in 2018

Life’s Genetic Code Requires Five Key Ingredients. The Asteroid Ryugu Has All of Them, a New Study Suggests

The findings further hint that space rocks may have brought the building blocks of RNA and DNA to Earth long ago

Yaks on the Tibetan Plateau have adapted to deal with high-altitude conditions.

This Genetic Mutation Helps Yaks Survive at High Elevations. It Could Lead to Treatments for Nerve Damage in Humans

Animals that dwell at high altitudes have adapted to cope with low oxygen levels, a condition that damages a vital part of nerve cells

The fire-loving fungus Geopyxis, seen here in 2022, after California’s Caldor Fire, has distinctive brown cups with white rims.

These Charcoal-Eating Fungi Flourish After Fires. Uncovering Their Genetic Secrets Could Help Rebuild Burned Ecosystems

Mycologists cultivated fungi they found in post-wildfire landscapes to understand the evolutionary traits behind their ability to thrive in the wake of flames

Around one-third of Americans take multivitamins, but researchers don't quite understand how they affect people's health.

Taking a Daily Multivitamin Might Slow Some Signs of Biological Aging, a New Study Suggests

Researchers don’t know how these modest changes at the cellular level relate to overall health

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