Genetic Archaeology News - June 2008 Archives

Ancient Mexican maize varieties (6/28/2008)

Sequencing of ancient corn landraces to ensure genetic diversity and resources ...> Full Article

Huge genome-scale phylogenetic study of birds rewrites evolutionary tree-of-life (6/27/2008)

An international, multi-institution research project shows that when it comes to bird evolution, appearances can be deceiving ...> Full Article

Estimation of isolation times in the Drosophila simulans complex (6/26/2008)

Researchers provide evidence that two island species were isolated at about the same time, estimated at ~250,000 years ago. ...> Full Article

New research reveals the true origins of Lyme disease and predicts how it will spread (6/25/2008)

The bacterium that causes Lyme disease, the fastest growing vector-borne disease in North America, originated in Europe before the Ice Age ...> Full Article

New discovery proves 'selfish gene' exists (6/21/2008)

A new discovery provides conclusive evidence which supports decades-old evolutionary doctrines long accepted as fact. ...> Full Article

Scientists fix bugs in our understanding of evolution (6/20/2008)

A new computational tool allows the most accurate insights into evolution ever ...> Full Article

Genome sequence of lancelet shows how genes quadrupled during vertebrate evolution (6/19/2008)

Ancestor to all chordates, including the vertebrates, confirms 40-year-old theory ...> Full Article

X Marks the Spot (6/18/2008)

Novel evolutionary tools for studying human populations using the X chromosome ...> Full Article

Did the gene for ADHD help our nomadic ancestors? (6/17/2008)

An ADHD-associated version of the human gene DRD4 is linked to better health among nomadic tribesmen, but may cause malnourishment in their settled cousins ...> Full Article

Ancient antibody molecule offers clues to how humans evolved allergies (6/15/2008)

Scientists have discovered how evolution may have lumbered humans with allergy ...> Full Article

Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come from the stars (6/14/2008)

Scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material which has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin ...> Full Article

Researchers Resurrect Extinct Judean Date Palm Tree from 2,000-Year-Old Seed (6/13/2008)

Researchers have brought an extinct date palm back to life by resurrecting the oldest seed ever ...> Full Article

Woolly-mammoth gene study changes extinction theory (6/11/2008)

A large genetic study of the extinct woolly mammoth has revealed that the species was not one large homogenous group, as scientists previously had assumed, and that it did not have much genetic diversity. ...> Full Article

New research refutes myth of pure Scandinavian race (6/10/2008)

A team of forensic scientists at the University of Copenhagen has studied human remains found in two ancient Danish burial grounds dating back to the iron age, and discovered a man who appears to be of arabian origin. ...> Full Article

Simple membranes could have allowed nutrients to pass into primitive cells (6/5/2008)

Study solves mystery of how the first cells interacted with their environment ...> Full Article

Life on Earth began much earlier (6/4/2008)

New studies of the world's most primitive living things - colonies of bacteria found on the Western Australia coast - suggest that life on Earth may have begun much earlier than the accepted date of about 3.5 billion years ago. ...> Full Article

DNA reveals sister power in Ancient Greece (6/3/2008)

Researchers have revealed how women, as well as men, held positions of power in ancient Greece by right of birth. ...> Full Article