Archaeology
Ancient Egyptian princesses may have been skilled warriors
A study of six mummies from ancient Egypt challenges the idea that the weapons buried with some royal women were merely ceremonial.
By Tom Metcalfe
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
More Stories in Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
- Animals
RNA from mummified woolly mammoth is the oldest ever recovered
Genetic details from the animal, named Yuka, give a snapshot into its last moments alive. The mammoth had been preserved in permafrost for 40,000 years.
- Environment
Nuclear weapons tests many decades ago have left a radioactive legacy
Decades of aboveground nuclear weapons tests, starting in the 1950s, lightly littered the planet with toxic fallout, which appears to have sickened some people.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI can now write working genetic instruction books from scratch
Two AI models designed these genomes for viruses that kill E. coli bacteria. They’re the first functioning full sets of DNA ever designed by machines.
- Animals
Horses became gentle and easy to ride thanks to two gene mutations
Horse breeders altered two genes by targeting certain traits in horses. One made the animals tamer. Another made their backs sturdy enough to carry riders.
- Health & Medicine
Finding cells that stop our body from attacking itself lands a Nobel
Shimon Sakaguchi won for discovering T-reg immune cells. Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell won for showing the cells’ role in autoimmune disease.
- Genetics
DNA reveals the origin of East Asia’s favorite sweet bean
Where those red beans — also called adzuki — came from had been murky. A new study says it all started in Japan.
- Genetics
Scientists Say: Genome
This complete set of DNA carries all the basic “how-to” instructions an organism needs to grow, develop and live.
- Health & Medicine
Multiple-snake antivenom comes from blood of man bitten 202 times
Tim Friede built immunity to snake venoms through bites and venom injections. His blood proteins now offer antivenom protection against 13 types of snakes.
- Animals
Loss inspired this biologist to study aging
Juan Manuel Vazquez studies the anti-aging genes that have allowed some animals to evolve to live remarkably long lives.
