Developments in mitochondrial DNA sequencing are returning South Africa’s slavery heritage to view.
Of more than 500 species of sharks in the world’s oceans, scientists have only sequenced a handful of genomes – most recently, white sharks.
Terry Goss/Wikimedia
Why do scientists spend so much time and money mapping the DNA of species like white sharks? Single studies may offer insights, but the real payoff comes in comparing many species to each other.
Illustration of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia,
showing lymphoblasts in blood.
Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock
Sea cows (Sirenia) descended from four legged mammals that roamed Africa when this continent was isolated. They belong to the Afrotheria, the ‘African beasts’.
Genetic techniques can help make pollen useful for cracking criminal cases.
Karen L. Bell
Pollen is all around us, is extremely durable and can provide clues about where someone’s been. A new genetic technique will make it easier to use pollen evidence in criminal investigations.
Surface oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Andreas Teske, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Genetic analysis shows that marine bacteria broke down much of the oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. These findings could lead to more effective cleanups after future spills.
Scientists today are inundated with data.
Shutterstock
Modern biological research relies on big data analytics. Vast reservoirs of memory and powerful computing ability mean machines find patterns and make meta-analyses and even predictions for scientists.
Genetic techniques are helping scientists work out how to stop invasive species before they rack up huge environmental and financial costs.
Hydrothermal vents on the seafloor hold the key to understanding the evolution of cellular life.
Centre for Geobiology (University of Bergen, Norway) by R.B. Pedersen
Genomics is increasingly hailed by many as the turning point in modern medicine. Advances in technology now mean we’re able to make out the full DNA sequence of an organism and decipher its entire hereditary…
The traditional picture of Vikings is one of boatloads of hairy men pillaging their way along the coasts of Europe. Though true to some degree, this stereotype has more recently been tempered with the…
When a human bone was found on a gravelly riverbank by a bone-carver who was searching for mammoth ivory, little did he know it would provide the oldest modern-human genome yet sequenced. The anatomically…