All Articles Tagged As: genetic diversity

8 new human genome projects offer large-scale picture of genetic difference (5/1/2008)

Projects give view of structural differences among individuals and find previously unknown human DNA ...> Full Article

When Genetics And Geology Meet In Patagonia (4/14/2008)

Study argues observed changes in freshwater fish demographics occurred in response to climate change over the past three million years ...> Full Article

Genetic Study Of Latin Americans Sheds Light On A Troubled History (3/24/2008)

A recent molecular analysis of ancestry across Latin America has revealed a marked differentiation between regions and demonstrated a "genetic continuity" between pre-and post Columbian populations. This study provides the first broad description of how the genome diversity of populations from Latin America has been shaped by the colonial history of the region. The research involved the collaboration of teams at universities across Latin America, the US and Europe, led by Dr. Andres Ruiz-Linares from University College London. ...> Full Article

Major Mid-century Influenza Epidemics Caused By Novel Hybrid Viruses (3/5/2008)

Reassortment of the influenza A virus occurs frequently throughout its evolutionary history. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University and the National Institute of Health used an evolutionary analysis of influenza viruses sampled from 1918 -- 2005 to investigate the influenza viruses that cause seasonal epidemics in humans, particularly those where mortality was unusually high. ...> Full Article

Human family tree mapped out in new detail by genetic sequencing effort (2/24/2008)

Researchers have created the highest resolution map of human genetic diversity to date, providing insight into how groups of people throughout the world are related and adding weight to previous theories that humans originated from Africa. ...> Full Article

Ancient 'Out of Africa' migration left stamp on European genetic diversity (2/22/2008)

Human migration from Africa to Europe more than 30,000 years ago appears to have left a mark on the genes of Europeans today. ...> Full Article

Researchers release most detailed global study of genetic variation (2/21/2008)

Scientists have produced the largest and most detailed worldwide study of human genetic variation, a treasure trove offering new insights into early migrations out of Africa and across the globe. ...> Full Article

Avian origins: new analysis confirms ancient beginnings (2/6/2008)

Did modern birds originate around the time of the dinosaurs' demise, or have they been around far longer? ...> 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

Ice Ages And Rivers May Have Affected Gorilla Diversification (12/15/2007)

Geography and historical climate change may have both played a major role in gorilla evolutionary diversification, according to a new genetic study by Cardiff University and the University of New Orleans. ...> Full Article

Are Humans Evolving Faster? (12/12/2007)

Researchers discovered genetic evidence that human evolution is speeding up - and has not halted or proceeded at a constant rate, as had been thought - indicating that humans on different continents are becoming increasingly different. ...> Full Article

Mutant sperm guide clinicians to new diseases (12/3/2007)

Research published today in Nature Genetics shows that some rearrangements of the human genome occur more frequently than previously thought. The work is likely to lead to new identification of genes involved in disease and to improve diagnosis of genomic disease. ...> Full Article

Global warming sends salamanders packing (11/29/2007)

A genetic study of the salamander family that encompasses two-thirds of the world's salamander species shows that periods of global warming helped the amphibians diversify and expand their range from North America into Europe and Asia, where pockets of them are still found today. ...> Full Article

Research sheds light on why humans and chimps differ (11/2/2007)

Gene splicing helps explain fundamental differences ...> Full Article

Predators and Parasites May Increase Evolutionary Stability (10/28/2007)

A new study explores the role of natural enemies, such as predators and parasites, for mixed mating, a reproductive strategy in which hermaphroditic plants and animals reproduce through both self- and cross-fertilization. The findings highlight the possible evolutionary consequences of these interactions. ...> Full Article

Ancient DNA Reveals That Some Neanderthals Were Redheads (10/27/2007)

Ancient DNA retrieved from the bones of two Neanderthals suggests that at least some of them had red hair and pale skin, scientists report in the journal Science. The international team says that Neanderthals' pigmentation may even have been as varied as that of modern humans, and that at least 1 percent of Neanderthals were likely redheads. ...> Full Article

Researchers posit new ideas about human migration from Asia to Americas (10/26/2007)

Questions about human migration from Asia to the Americas have perplexed anthropologists for decades, but as scenarios about the peopling of the New World come and go, the big questions have remained. Do the ancestors of Native Americans derive from only a small number of "founders" who trekked to the Americas via the Bering land bridge? How did their migration to the New World proceed? What, if anything, did the climate have to do with their migration? And what took them so long? ...> Full Article

Consortium Publishes Phase II Map of Human Genetic Variation (10/23/2007)

Scientists published analyses of its second-generation map of human genetic variation, which contains three times more markers than the initial version unveiled in 2005. ...> Full Article

Mice Roar Message: Genetic Change Happens Fast (10/21/2007)

While looks can be deceiving, heredity is revealing, and two scientists who've studied the genetic makeup of a common field mouse report that what's most revealing to them is how fast both genes and morphology can change. ...> Full Article

Scientists spy enzyme that makes us unique (10/18/2007)

Have you ever wondered why you inherited your mother's smile but not your father's height? Researchers are one step closer to unravelling how nature combines both maternal and paternal DNA to create genetically unique offspring. ...> Full Article

Why some species 'explosively' diversify (9/20/2007)

A new study of finger-sized Australian lizards sheds light on one of the most striking yet largely unexplained patterns in nature: Why is it that some groups of animals have evolved into hundreds, even thousands of species, while other groups include only a few? ...> Full Article

Prehistoric aesthetics explains snail biogeography puzzle (9/19/2007)

The answer to a mystery that long has puzzled biologists may lie in prehistoric Polynesians' penchant for pretty white shells. ...> Full Article

Females promiscuous for the good of their grandchildren (9/8/2007)

Female animals that mate with multiple partners may be doing so to ensure the optimum health of their grandchildren, according to researchers at the universities of Leeds and Exeter. ...> Full Article

The giant panda holds potential for further evolution (8/22/2007)

Employing microsatellite and mitochondrial control region (CR) sequences as genetic markers, CAS researchers have obtained some key information about the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and depicted its recent evolution history. They discovered that the lovely species still possesses high genetic diversity and evolution potentials, putting an end to the hypothesis suggesting the giant panda is facing an 'evolutionary dead-end'. ...> Full Article

Scientists Show Differing Patterns of Rainforest Biodiversity (8/13/2007)

Rainforests are the world's treasure houses of biodiversity, but all rainforests are not the same. Biodiversity may be more evenly distributed in some forests than in others and, therefore, may require different management and preservation strategies. That is one of the conclusions of a large-scale Smithsonian study of a lowland rainforest in New Guinea, published in the Aug. 9 issue of the journal Nature. ...> Full Article

Charting Ever-Changing Genomes (7/23/2007)

Instead of immutable proprietary software, any species' genetic information resembles open source code that is constantly tweaked and optimized to meet the users' specific needs. But which parts of the code have withstood the test of time and which parts have undergone rapid evolutionary change has been difficult to assess. ...> Full Article

Queen Honeybees Promiscuity Produces More Productive Colonies (7/22/2007)

Why do queen honeybees mate with dozens of males? Does their extreme promiscuity, perhaps, serve a purpose? ...> Full Article

Genetic Diversity Increases Horn Size And Reproductive Success (6/9/2007)

Size matters. At least, it does to an alpine ibex. ...> Full Article