Reconstructing chromosomal rearrangements of placental mammals over millions...
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. has used computational methods to follow chromosomal rearrangements in seven genomes. In their paper published in Proceedings of...
View ArticleA new way to discover DNA modifications
DNA is made from four nucleosides, each known by its own letter—A, G, C, and T. However, since the structure of DNA was deciphered in 1953, scientists have discovered several other variants that are...
View ArticleRejuvenating the comparative approach in modern neuroscience
65 years ago, the famed behavioral endocrinologist Frank Beach wrote an article in The American Psychologist entitled 'The Snark was a Boojum'. The title refers to Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Hunting of...
View ArticleInternational consortium to study plant fertility evolution
Mark Johnson, associate professor of biology, has joined a consortium of seven other researchers in four European countries to develop the fullest understanding yet of how fertilization evolved in...
View ArticleMassively parallel biology students: More than 900 students co-author...
The list of authors for an article on the comparative genomics of a fruit fly chromosome, published online May 11 by the journal G3, runs three single-spaced pages. Large author lists are the norm in...
View ArticleFriday the 13th and other bad-luck beliefs actually do us some good
In Western cultures, Friday was traditionally considered a day of bad luck, dating as far back as the 14th century, if not earlier – likely due to religious associations with the crucifixion.
View ArticleDifferent species share a 'genetic toolkit' for behavioral traits, study finds
The house mouse, stickleback fish and honey bee appear to have little in common, but at the genetic level these creatures respond in strikingly similar ways to danger, researchers report. When any of...
View ArticleCoffee tree genome sequenced
In the study published in Science, the researchers were interested in Robusta coffee because of its average sized genome (710 million pairs of DNA bases) and its diploid nature (contrary to Coffea...
View ArticleLife on Earth still favours evolution over creationism
Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, first published in 1859, offered a bold new explanation for how animals and plants diversified and still serves as the foundation underpinning all medical and...
View ArticleHow yeast formations got started
Researchers conducted a comparative analysis of nearly 60 fungal genomes to determine the genetic traits that enabled the convergent evolution of yeasts.
View ArticleField study suggests islands and forest fragments are not as alike as thought
An international team of biogeographers has found that assumptions about similarities between biodiversity in forest fragments and true islands are not as clear-cut as has been assumed. In their paper...
View ArticleStudy discovers natural hybridization produced dolphin species
A newly published study on the clymene dolphin, a small and sleek marine mammal living in the Atlantic Ocean, shows that this species arose through natural hybridization between two closely related...
View ArticleKey cellular mechanism in the body's 'battery' can either spur or stop obesity
Becoming obese or remaining lean can depend on the dynamics of the mitochondria, the body's energy-producing "battery," according to two new studies by Yale School of Medicine researchers featured as...
View ArticleVaccinating cattle against E. coli O157 could cut human cases of infection by...
Vaccinating cattle against the E. coli O157 bacterium could cut the number of human cases of the disease by 85%, according to scientists. The bacteria, which cause severe gastrointestinal illness and...
View ArticleFriday the 13th and other bad-luck beliefs actually do us some good
In Western cultures, Friday was traditionally considered a day of bad luck, dating as far back as the 14th century, if not earlier – likely due to religious associations with the crucifixion.
View ArticleOne more Homo species? Recent 3-D-comparative analysis confirms status of...
(Phys.org) —Ever since the discovery of the remains in 2003, scientists have been debating whether Homo floresiensis represents a distinct Homo species, possibly originating from a dwarfed island Homo...
View ArticleMammals can 'choose' sex of offspring, study finds
A new study led by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that mammalian species can "choose" the sex of their offspring in order to beat the odds and produce extra...
View ArticleEvolution's toolkit seen in developing hands and arms
Thousands of sequences that control genes are active in the developing human limb and may have driven the evolution of the human hand and foot, a comparative genomics study led by Yale School of...
View ArticleFrogs in California harbor deadly amphibian pathogen, researchers find
In a new study, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers provide the first evidence that African clawed frogs in California harbor a deadly fungal infection that is decimating amphibian...
View ArticleSubset of short genes hidden inside plant genomes may be important in setting...
Although thousands of entire genomes have been sequenced, our understanding of their detailed workings remains far from complete. Researchers continue to find new genes, determine their function, and...
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