Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
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AnimalsThe turning of wolves into dogs may have occurred twice
The process of turning wolves into dogs, called domestication, may have occurred twice — in the East and the West — ancient DNA suggest.
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AnimalsWhy some frogs can survive killer fungal disease
A disease is wiping out amphibian species around the globe. New research shows how some frogs develop immunity.
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AnimalsCommon plant could help fight Zika virus
A teen discovered that extracts from leaves of the San Francisco plant (Codiaeum variegatum) kill larvae of the mosquito that helps spread the Zika and dengue fever viruses.
By Sid Perkins -
GeneticsGenes: How few needed for life?
Scientists rebuilt a microbe using its old genes. But not all of them. They used as few building-blocks as they could get away with and still have the life-form survive.
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AnimalsCool Jobs: Pet science
Pets make great subjects for research. These scientists work to make our animals — and us — healthier and happier.
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AnimalsGene editing swats at mosquitoes
A new genetic technique can render insects that spread malaria unable to reproduce.
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AgricultureNew gene resists our last-ditch drug
Antibiotic resistance continues to grow. Now, scientists have found a tiny loop of DNA that resists a drug doctors use as a last line of defense.
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AgricultureBanana threat: Attack of the clones
Researchers find that disease-causing fungi — all clones of one another — will continue to infect banana plants unless new steps are taken to stop their spread.
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HumansNews Brief: Ancient teeth point to Neandertal relatives
New analyses of some teeth found in Siberia indicate that Neandertal cousins known as Denisovans lived there for at least 60,000 years. That would have had them around the same place as modern humans — and at nearly the same time.
By Bruce Bower -
AnimalsGene editing creates buff beagles
Scientists showed that a potentially useful new gene-editing tool can work in dogs. It created a pair of adorable, muscular puppies. But the goal is to use it for other research purposes.
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ChemistryTrio gets chemistry Nobel for figuring out DNA repair
Three researchers have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in chemistry for working out how cells fix damaged genetic material.
By Meghan Rosen and Sarah Schwartz -
EarthCool Jobs: Finding foods for the future
What's for dinner... tomorrow? Scientists are developing new foods to meet the demands of the growing population in a changing world.