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Genetic Archaeology News - November 2009 Archives
Darwin suggested that the action of natural selection can produce new species, but 150 years after the publication of "On the Origin of Species" debate continues on the mechanisms of speciation. New research finds sexual selection to greatly enlarge the scope for adaptive speciation by triggering a positive feedback between mate choice and ecological diversification that can eventually eliminate gene flow between species.
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The first genetic historical map of the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic population in the world, as they migrated from south to north over evolutionary time. The study was published online by the American Journal of Human Genetics.
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 | The world's largest species of monkey "chooses" mates with genes that are different from their own to guarantee healthy and strong offspring, according to a new research study. ...> Full Article |
 | With thousands of stinging cells that can emit deadly venom from tentacles that can reach ten feet in length, the 50 or so species of box jellyfish have long been of interest to scientists and to the public. Yet little has been known about the evolution of this early branch in the animal tree of life. In a paper published today, researchers have unraveled the evolutionary relationships among the various species of box jellyfish, thereby providing insight into the evolution of their toxicity. ...> Full Article |
People preferentially marry those with similar ancestry, but their decisions are not necessarily based on hair, eye or skin color. Research, published in BioMed Central's open-access journal Genome Biology, shows that Mexicans mate according to proportions of Native-American to European ancestry, while Puerto Ricans are more likely to settle down with someone carrying a similar mix of African and European genes.
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A key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, in a study appearing in this week's JBC, researchers in Italy have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water.
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 | This week, scientists are revealing the genetic instructions inside corn, one of the big three cereal crops. Corn, or maize, has one of the most complex sequences of DNA ever analyzed, says University of Wisconsin-Madison genomicist David Schwartz, who was one of more than 100 authors in the article in the journal Science. ...> Full Article |
 | Researchers from Arizona State University have discovered that several species of microbes, at least one found prominently in the deserts of the Southwest, have evolved the trait of rope-building to lasso shifting soil substrates. ...> Full Article |
 | The evolutionary history of New Zealand's many extinct flightless moa has been re-written in the first comprehensive study of more than 260 sub-fossil specimens to combine all known genetic, anatomical, geological and ecological information about the unique bird lineage. ...> Full Article |
 | Mountain goats are no exception to the general rule among mammals that larger males sire more and healthier offspring. But University of Alberta researcher David Coltman has found a genetic quirk that might make female mountain goats think twice about their romantic partners. ...> Full Article |
 | Hardening of the arteries has been detected in Egyptian mummies, some as old as 3,500 years, suggesting that the factors causing heart attack and stroke are not only modern ones; they afflicted ancient people, too. ...> Full Article |
A new study suggests a link between chimpanzee gestures and the evolution of speech.
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Researchers found differences in mycorrhizal colonization between males and females. Female plants were more likely to be colonized by the mycorrhizal fungi than male plants. Intersexual competition has been hypothesized to be a likely cause of the spatial segregation of the sexes in D. spicata populations. It may be that the female plants, with the assistance of mycorrhizal fungi, are able to out-compete the male plants for the coveted phosphorous-rich sites within the marsh.
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 | Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided extraordinary frozen DNA samples that challenge the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements, and suggest those approaches have been routinely underestimating the age of many specimens by 200 to 600 percent. ...> Full Article |
 | Using DNA evidence, UCLA biologists have solved a mystery that dates back to Charles Darwin: How can a wolf-like animal the size of a Labrador retriever end up on an island in sufficient numbers that a new population emerges and evolves into a new species? ...> Full Article |
 | If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not?
Scientists suspect that part of the answer to the mystery lies in a gene called FOXP2. When mutated, FOXP2 can disrupt speech and language in humans. Now, a UCLA/Emory study reveals major differences between how the human and chimp versions of FOXP2 work, perhaps explaining why language is unique to humans. ...> Full Article |
 | The most extensive DNA study to-date of Africa's rarest monkey reveals that the species had an intriguing sexual past. Of the last two remaining populations of the recently discovered kipunji, one population shows evidence of past mating with baboons while the other does not, says a new study in Biology Letters. The results may help to set conservation priorities for this critically endangered species, researchers say. ...> Full Article |
Rice University evolutionary biologists David Queller and Joan Strassmann argue in a new paper that high cooperation and low conflict between components, from the genetic level on up, give a living thing its "organismality," whether that thing is an animal, a plant, a bacteria or a colony.
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 | Female Osedax marine worms feast on submerged bones via a complex relationship with symbiotic bacteria, and they are turning out to be far more diverse and widespread than scientists expected. Californian researchers have found that up to twelve further distinct evolutionary lineages exist beyond the five species already described. The new findings about these beautiful sea creatures with unusual sexual and digestive habits are published today in the online open access journal BMC Biology. ...> Full Article |
 | A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed the first atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body, charting wide variations in microbe populations that live in different regions of the human body and which aid us in physiological functions that contribute to our health. ...> Full Article |
In the most comprehensive study of animal evolution ever attempted, an international consortium of scientists plans to assemble a genomic zoo -- a collection of DNA sequences for 10,000 vertebrate species, approximately one for every vertebrate genus.
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Leprosy still affects hundreds of thousands of people today throughout the entire world. An international team headed by EPFL professor Stewart Cole has traced the history of the disease from ancient Egypt to today and in doing so has made a public health study essential for combating the disease.
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 | New insights into the biology of the platypus and echidna have been published, providing a collection of unique research data about the world's only monotremes. ...> Full Article |
A painstaking genomic and proteomic analysis has found a new evolutionary mechanism that accounts for some of the biological complexity of human beings. The Rice University scientists who found the mechanism say it helps humans cope with the consequences of inefficient natural selection. It fosters complexity by enabling human proteins to become more specialized over time. The research is available online and slated for December's print edition of Genome Research.
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A major conclusion of the work is that for some organisms, possibly including humans, continued evolution will not translate into ever-increasing fitness. Moreover, a population may accrue mutations at a constant rate ?- a pattern long considered the hallmark of "neutral" or non-Darwinian evolution -? even when the mutations experience Darwinian selection.
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 | Biologists have shown that independent but similar molecular changes turned a harmless digestive enzyme into a toxin in two unrelated species -- a shrew and a lizard -- giving each a venomous bite. ...> Full Article |
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Scientists discover 'catastrophic event' behind the halt of star birth in early galaxy formation
Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone
'Anaconda' meets 'Jurassic Park': Study shows ancient snakes ate dinosaur babies
Scientists locate apparent hydrothermal vents off Antarctica
Artificial bee silk a big step closer to reality
Predicting the fate of stem cells
Artificial foot recycles energy for easier walking
New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing
What drives our genes? Researchers map the first complete human epigenome
Juggling enhances connections in the brain
Tracking down the human 'odorprint'
Fill 'er up - with algae
Scientists discover quantum fingerprints of chaos
Researchers help identify cows that gain more while eating less
SU biologists' work with 'glow-in-the-dark' sperm sheds light on sexual selection
Fungi can change quickly, pass along infectious ability
Dogs likely originated in the Middle East, new genetic data indicate
Molecular study could push back angiosperm origins
Phylogenetic analysis of Mexican cave scorpions suggests adaptation to caves is reversable
Scientific breakthrough in genetic studies of animal domestication
Scientists discover 600 million-year-old origins of vision
Unselfish molecules may have helped give birth to the genetic material of life
Exploring Echinacea's enigmatic origins
Lizard moms choose the right genes for the right gender offspring