Genetic Archaeology News - January 2008 Archives

Blue-eyed humans have a single, common ancestor (1/31/2008)

New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today. ...> Full Article

Cats' Family Tree Rooted in Fertile Crescent, Study Confirms (1/30/2008)

The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East has long been identified as a "cradle of civilization" for humans. In a new genetic study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have concluded that all ancestral roads for the modern day domestic cat also lead back to the same locale. ...> Full Article

Probing Question: Why are flowers beautiful? (1/28/2008)

Biologist studies the genetic roots of flowers ...> Full Article

Genome scientists discover that evolution sometimes 'reinvents the wheel' (1/24/2008)

If a particular biological innovation is good enough to evolve once, it may sometimes be good enough to evolve multiple times independently in different species. ...> Full Article

Study discovers secret of Scottish sheep evolution (1/21/2008)

Researchers from the University of Sheffield, as part of an international team, have discovered the secret of why dark sheep on a remote Scottish Island are mysteriously declining, seemingly contradicting Darwin's evolutionary theory. ...> Full Article

Evolution Of Human Genome's 'Guardian' Gives People Unique Protections From DNA Damage (1/21/2008)

Human evolution has created enhancements in key genes connected to the p53 regulatory network -- the so-called guardian of the genome -- by creating additional safeguards in human genes to boost the network's ability to guard against DNA damage that could cause cancer or a variety of genetic diseases, an international team of scientists led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center writes in the Jan. 22 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Because genetically engineered mouse models are increasingly powerful tools in understanding the risks and mechanisms of human diseases -- and rodents do not have the same evolution-based safeguards in p53 function as humans -- the study also underscores the need for additional considerations in the interpretation of research using rodent models. ...> Full Article

Geneticist Uses New Computational Methods to Search for a Neanderthal Legacy and for Disease Genes (1/20/2008)

Each year, Jurassic Park seems less like science fiction. Scientists are decoding woolly mammoth DNA. They also are decoding DNA from an extinct species much closer to us in genetic makeup - the Neanderthal. ...> Full Article

Genome Scan Shows Polynesians Have Little Genetic Relationship To Melanesians (1/19/2008)

The origins and current genetic relationships of Pacific Islanders have generated interest and controversy for many decades. Now, a new comprehensive genetic study of almost 1,000 individuals has revealed that Polynesians and Micronesians have almost no genetic relation to Melanesians, and that groups that live in the islands of Melanesia are remarkably diverse. ...> Full Article

Columbus May Have Brought Syphilis To Europe From New World (1/16/2008)

Did Columbus and his men introduce the syphilis pathogen into Renaissance Europe after contracting it during their voyage to the New World? Or does syphilis have a much longer history in the Old World? The most comprehensive comparative genetic analysis conducted on the family of bacteria (the treponemes) that cause syphilis and related diseases such as yaws supports the so-called "Columbian theory" of syphilis's origins. ...> Full Article

Tree DNA helps support traditional view that some New Zealand plants were saved from catastrophic flood (1/15/2008)

Advanced DNA dating techniques used to analyse New Zealand kauri trees have led scientists to believe that New Zealand was never completely submerged. ...> Full Article

Second 'Evolution Matters' Lecture Focuses on Genetic Patterns of Embryos, Kinship among Species (1/11/2008)

How does variation in genes generate the beautiful and astounding diversity of animal body shapes on Planet Earth? ...> Full Article

Evolution of the Sexes: What a Fungus Can Tell Us (1/10/2008)

Fungi don't exactly come in boy and girl varieties, but they do have sex differences. In fact, a new finding from Duke University Medical Center shows that some of the earliest evolved forms of fungus contain clues to how the sexes evolved in higher animals, including that distant cousin of fungus, the human. ...> Full Article

Mechanics of gene transcription (1/9/2008)

The molecular machinery behind gene transcription -- the intricate transfer of information from a segment of DNA to a corresponding strand of messenger RNA -- isn't stationed in special "transcription factories" within a cell nucleus, according to Cornell researchers. Instead, the enzyme RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and other key molecules can assemble at the site of an activated gene, regardless of the gene's position. ...> Full Article

Smell-wars Between Butterflies And Ants (1/7/2008)

Among humans, making yourself smell more alluring than you really are is a fairly harmless, socially accepted habit that maintains a complete perfume industry. However, it is a matter of life and death for caterpillars of large blue butterflies that dupe ant workers into believing them to be one of the ant's own larvae. ...> Full Article

Evolution Of Male-female Differences Within A Shared Genome (1/6/2008)

One of the major components of the world's biological diversity are the differences between males and females in traits related to mating, including weapons used when competing for mates and display traits used to seduce them. Such gender differences are thought to arise because selection acts differently on each sex. The conflicting interests of males and females in reproduction are thought to be a key source of sex-specific selection on such traits. ...> Full Article

New route for heredity bypasses DNA (1/6/2008)

A group of scientists in Princeton's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has uncovered a new biological mechanism that could provide a clearer window into a cell's inner workings. ...> Full Article

Research Scientists Discover Remarkable Editing System For Protein Production (1/5/2008)

Findings Could Help Identify Causes For Neurological and Other Diseases ...> Full Article

Insects' 'Giant Leap' Reconstructed By Founder Of Sociobiology (1/5/2008)

The January 2008 issue of BioScience includes an article by biologist Edward O. Wilson that argues for a new perspective on the evolution of advanced social organization in some ants, bees, and wasps (Hymenoptera). ...> Full Article

Hybridization Partially Restores Vision in Cavefish (1/4/2008)

Hybridizing blind cave fish from different cave populations can partially restore the vision of their offspring, biologists at New York University have found. The study suggests that genetic engineering can override, at least in part, half a million years of evolutionary change in one generation. ...> Full Article

Scientists find missing evolutionary link using tiny fungus crystal (1/3/2008)

The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex. ...> Full Article

Human Genetic Variation: Science's 'Breakthrough Of The Year' (1/1/2008)

In 2007, researchers were dazzled by the degree to which genomes differ from one human to another and began to understand the role of these variations in disease and personal traits. Science and its publisher, AAAS, the nonprofit science society, recognize "Human Genetic Variation" as the Breakthrough of the Year, and identify nine other of the year's most significant scientific accomplishments. ...> Full Article