Genetics

Cells with XX or XY chromosomes provide researchers with a new tool to study how differences in sex chromosomes can influence health and development

DNA from Denisovans, an extinct human species, that was found in the genomes of Indigenous Papuans may mold their immune system

Two-million-year-old DNA, the world's oldest, reveals that mastodons once roamed forests in Greenland’s far northern reaches

A genome analysis finds SARS-CoV-2 and bat coronaviruses shared an ancestor just a few years ago, but extensive recombination has muddied the picture

Human endogenous retroviruses make up 8 percent of the human genome. Researchers are studying how active they are

Svante Pääbo’s work on sequencing the DNA of Neandertals and Denisovans, which won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, revealed surprising interbreeding among human species

Elephants use 20 copies of a key cancer-fighting gene—and humans just have one

A new study explores how the flying spider-monkey tree fern might hoard chromosomes

The freaky physics phenomenon of quantum tunneling may mutate genes

Pasty cave fish seem to repurpose a melanin-making molecule to better survive famine

For the first time, researchers have sequenced all 3,117,275,501 bases of our genetic code

A landmark study is the first major effort to quantify how lactose tolerance developed