Genetic Archaeology News - September 2009 Archives
 | There may be plenty of fish in the sea but the medaka knows what it likes. A new study published in the open-access journal BMC Biology shows how a single gene mutation that turns Japanese Killifish a drab gray color renders them significantly less attractive to more colorful members of the opposite sex. ...> Full Article |
 | A comprehensive study that builds on previous phylogenetic research on cetaceans and that combines morphology, genetics, and behavior confirms that the closest living relative is the hippo and demonstrates that the closest fossil relative is Indohyus. These evolutionary relationships imply that stem whales adapted to water first, and then to carnivory. ...> Full Article |
Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology, which involved Swedish researchers and which has now been published in the journal Current Biology.
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University of Arizona geneticist Michael Hammer and his colleagues used a larger number of DNA markers to trace the ancient bloodline to more than one source.
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 | A University of Oregon research team has found that evolution can never go backwards, because the paths to the genes once present in our ancestors are forever blocked. The findings come from the first rigorous study of reverse evolution at the molecular level. ...> Full Article |
 | International effort is the first genome-scale analysis of diverse Indian groups ...> Full Article |
2 studies look at the benefits and limits of the information in personal genetics
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Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, researchers used a novel and complex study design to better understand the association between fathers' absence and children's sexuality. Contrary to previous research, this study shows that the association can be best explained by genetic influences. The researchers also suggest that, while there's no "father absence gene," there are genetic contributions to traits in both moms and dads that increase the likelihood of earlier sexual behavior in children.
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 | A new analysis of extinct sea creatures suggests that the transition from egg-laying to live-born young opened up evolutionary pathways that allowed these ancient species to adapt to and thrive in open oceans. ...> Full Article |
An international team of researchers, including Monash University biochemists, has discovered evidence at the molecular level in support of one of the key tenets of Darwin's theory of evolution.
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Researchers have explored a piece of Darwin's "abominable mystery" -- how flowering plants originated, rapidly diversified, and rose to dominance -- by exploring the microscopic anatomy of seed development in Trithuria, a genus in the plant family Hydatellaceae. This family is thought to be one of the earliest families of angiosperms -- the so-called "basal angiosperms."
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The smell of death proves to be an ancient warning signal to safeguard against predators and disease contagion.
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Scientists at the University of Liverpool have traced the evolution of a species of tropical butterfly, infected with a bacterium that kills males, by comparing current butterfly populations with more than 200 museum specimens.
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Unlike animals and humans, plants can't run and hide when exposed to stressful environmental conditions. So how do plants survive? A new University of Montreal study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found a key mechanism that enables plants to keep dangerous gene alterations in check to ensure their continued existence.
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Tel Aviv University study offers an evolutionary approach for today's fertility problems
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A team of scientists from Yale University and Dartmouth College has used microRNA data to investigate the evolutionary relationships of annelids, which include earthworms, leeches and bristle worms, to show that this large animal group evolved as a single, unique evolutionary branch. Their work represents the first time that microRNAs have been used to study the evolutionary relationships between organisms.
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 | Biologists at the University of California, Riverside, report new evidence for evolutionary change recorded in both the fossil record and the genomes (or genetic blueprints) of living organisms, providing fresh support for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The researchers were able to correlate the progressive loss of enamel in the fossil record with a simultaneous molecular decay of a gene, called the enamelin gene, that is involved in enamel formation in mammals. ...> Full Article |
 | Analysis of ancient DNA suggests that Europe's first farmers were not the descendants of the people who settled the area after the retreat of the ice sheets. Instead, the early farmers probably migrated into major areas of central and eastern Europe about 7,500 years ago, bringing domesticated plants and animals with them. DNA analysis reveals little evidence of a direct genetic link between the hunter-gatherers and the early farmers. ...> Full Article |
In the September issue of Genome Research, Dr. Sudhir Kumar led a team of researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University in examining DNA mutations from both healthy and diseased patients.Their work evaluates the reliability of computer models aimed at predicting the eventual effect of such mutations.
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 | The unique mechanism behind the evolutionary survival of the human Y chromosome may also be responsible for a range of sex disorders, from failed sperm production to sex reversal to Turner Syndrome. ...> Full Article |
Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome -- extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated -- might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits. Now, researchers report in a study published online on Sept. 3 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that they have discovered a prime example of this in fish.
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Turtles and other reptiles offer clues to the development of 4 chambers and to congenital heart disease
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Humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar, yet it is not difficult to identify the many ways in which we are clearly distinct from chimps. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have made a crucial discovery of genes that have evolved in humans after branching off from other primates, opening new possibilities for understanding what makes us uniquely human.
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Previous studies in the field have indicated that East Asia is where the wolf was tamed and became the dog. It was not possible to be more precise than that. But now researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have managed to zero in on man's best friend.
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 | Variants in just three genes acting in different combinations account for the wide range of coat textures seen in dogs -- from the poodle's tight curls to the beagle's stick-straight fur. A team led by researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, reports these findings today in the advance online issue of the journal Science. ...> Full Article |
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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
Mars Express heading for closest flyby of Phobos
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
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
Modern man found to be generally monogamous, moderately polygamous
Ancient DNA from rare fossil reveals that polar bears evolved recently and adapted quickly
Does promiscuity prevent extinction?
Stickleback genomes shining bright light on evolution
Researchers uncover DNA sequence of extinct ancient cattle
Small dogs originated in the Middle East
Ancient DNA reveals caribou history linked to volcanic eruption
Scientists create tiny RNA molecule with big implications for life's origins