Multicancer early detection tests are among the priorities of the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot. The tests show promise, but questions remain about when and how to use them.
Prokaryotes are single-celled organisms without nuclei and are commonly known as bacteria.
Ichigomaru/Shutterstock
Journals, museum collections and other historical sources can provide valuable data for modern ecological studies. But just because a source is old doesn’t make it useful.
Ancient DNA helps reveal the tangled branches of the human family tree. Not only did our ancestors live alongside other human species, they mated with them, too.
Svante Pääbo has won the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for 2022.
EPA-EFE/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE
The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for 2022 has been awarded to Svante Pääbo, whose discoveries have been pivotal to the way we understand our evolutionary history.
The atmosphere protects life on Earth from the effects of the Sun’s radiation, but space travel is a different matter.
(NASA/SDO)
As the potential for space travel increases, it is necessary to develop methods to protect astronauts from environmental stresses in space. Studying the DNA of baker’s yeast may provide some clues.
Ethical and equitable scientific collaboration could help increase the genetic diversity of genomic data.
gmast3r/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Existing genetic data and sequencing tools are overwhelmingly based on people of European ancestry, which excludes much of the rich genetic variation of the world.
A new DNA method could help making it easier to date skeletons.
Malinka333/Shutterstock
Marnie Blewitt, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) and Natalia Benetti, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Our study in mice shows epigenetic changes in the mother can be passed to her offspring to influence a critical time in how the spine develops.
DNA testing is becoming more popular.
Shutterstock
The first hammerhead shark was likely the result of a genetic deformity. A biologist explains how shark DNA reveals hammerheads’ history.
Telomeres (red) at the ends of chromosomes protect your DNA from damage.
Thomas Ried/NCI Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health via Flickr
The protective caps at the ends of chromosomes naturally shorten over time. Researchers found that direct damage can prematurely trigger senescence and contribute to age-related diseases like cancer.
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg with Moshe Biton (right) and Aviv Regev (left). The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is one of the major funders of the Human Cell Atlas.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Pioneered by the Human Cell Atlas consortium, our understanding of the human body is about to be transformed – and with it, the way we treat and prevent disease
A protest against police brutality outside parliament buildings in Nairobi.
Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images
Exposure to hot and dry conditions can damage the DNA of nestling birds in their first few days of life – meaning they age earlier and produce less offspring.