DNA

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Breakthrough DNA Test Saves Boy in 48 Hours

New software sifts through DNA sample to make quick diagnosis

(Newser) - A 15-year-old boy is alive thanks to a diagnosis that sounds like it’s from a sci-fi novel. Doctors took a DNA sample from Joshua Osborn—whose brain was swelling with fluid for reasons that had doctors stumped—ran it through DNA-sequencing machines, and let the software work its magic,...

You and Your Spouse May Have Similar DNA

But new study finds your education level similarity is likely much stronger

(Newser) - You may have more in common with your spouse than you think—like DNA, a new study suggests. Scientists came to their conclusion, published yesterday in the journal PNAS , after reviewing data on 9,429 non-Hispanic whites, a group that included 825 wedded couples. The bigger number of the study:...

Lab Creates Life With 'Alien' DNA

New letters added to DNA 'alphabet'

(Newser) - It's alive! Scientists say that they have created the first living organism with synthetic DNA unlike that of any life that has ever existed on Earth. Until now, all species used the same DNA code of four letters, but researchers added two new DNA bases labeled X and Y...

Scientists Pry Open Coffin of King Murdered in 1160
Scientists Pry Open Coffin
of King Murdered in 1160
in case you missed it
Apr 27, 2014 9:51 AM CDT

Scientists Pry Open Coffin of King Murdered in 1160

Swedish scientists test DNA of King Erik the Holy

(Newser) - A cathedral chaplain calls it "a very special occasion," though it sounds rather grisly: Swedish researchers yesterday opened an 850-year-old coffin containing the remains of the country's King Erik IX, who was murdered in 1160 and later made a saint, the AP reports. Scientists plan to study...

Stagecoach Passenger Is Oldest Active Missing-Person Case

Nobody has seen Marvin Clark since 1920

(Newser) - Marvin Clark is the subject of the oldest active missing-person investigation in America, but nobody is expecting to find him alive: The Oregon town marshal was 62 or 63 years old when he vanished after getting on a stagecoach to his doctor's office in 1920. His is the oldest...

Police to Do 527 DNA Tests to Find Student's Rapist

All male students, staff at French high school asked to give samples

(Newser) - Male students and staff at a high school in western France—527 people in total—were asked to give DNA samples beginning today as police search for the assailant who raped a teenage girl. The La Rochelle prosecutor's office said tests were expected to last from today through Wednesday...

Early Americans Took 10K-Year Pit Stop
 1st Americans Took 
 'Break' for 10K Years 
study says
Mar 2, 2014 2:45 PM CST

1st Americans Took 'Break' for 10K Years

Settlers from Asia may have lived in Beringia, scientists say

(Newser) - Nothing like taking a break on a long trip—for, say, 10,000 years. That's how long the first human settlers stayed in Beringia—the region that once bridged Siberia and Alaska—before inhabiting North America about 15,000 years ago, according to a new scientific paper by University...

FDA May Allow Babies With 3 Parents

Observers cite concerns about 'designer babies'

(Newser) - An advisory panel to the FDA is investigating the merits of a technique dubbed "three-parent IVF," a method opponents worry could lead to so-called "designer babies," the Washington Post reports. The method in question aims to help mothers who carry risky DNA mutations—causing blindness or...

Infant's DNA Pinpoints Origins of First Americans

The Clovis people descended from Asians, not Europeans

(Newser) - The DNA from a single infant is shining a light on the true origins of the first Americans. The headline-generating research relies on the DNA of a child buried roughly 12,600 years ago, and establishes that the first North Americans were born to humans who came to the New...

Scientists Hail 'Revolutionary' Stem Cell Breakthrough

Scientists find they can make them using blood cells, acid

(Newser) - A new discovery promises to make stem cell research cheaper, faster, and less controversial to boot. Scientists in Japan have shown that stem cells can be created in less than 30 minutes by simply dipping blood cells in acid; the new cells have been dubbed stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or...

Plague, Black Death Were Different, and That's Bad News

A new strain could rise up that's just as deadly: scientists

(Newser) - The Plague of Justinian and the Black Death arose from separate bacteria strains, researchers say—and that's not a good thing, because if distinct plagues have ravaged the human population before, they could come up again, LiveScience reports. A group of researchers came to this conclusion by digging up...

Century-Old Tissue Unlocks Cholera's Genome

Research reveals link between disease's first 2 pandemics

(Newser) - Using a tiny scrap of long-preserved tissue, researchers from the Ancient DNA Centre at Ontario's McMaster University have managed to map out the genome of the cholera strain that ravaged the globe in the early 19th century, in the second of seven pandemics linked to the disease. The research...

Genetic Testing Kits Just Don&#39;t Cut It
 Genetic Testing Kits 
 Just Don't Cut It 
OPINION
Dec 3, 2013 12:09 PM CST

Genetic Testing Kits Just Don't Cut It

Companies are promising too much, writes Columbia professor

(Newser) - The FDA made a wise move in forcing 23andMe to stop marketing its $99 genetic testing kit, writes Columbia professor Robert Klitzman at Bloomberg View . The premise of companies like these sounds great: Get your DNA tested for a modest sum and head off serious health issues. But the scientific...

Accused Rapist's Defense: My Twin Did It

Aaron Lucas says his brother perpetrated sexual assaults

(Newser) - An Army lieutenant accused of sexually assaulting several young girls will be allowed to make an unusual defense at trial: his brother did it, the AP reports. DNA samples have linked the officer, Aaron Lucas, to three of the crimes, but the siblings share the same DNA. "I have...

Dogs Got Their Start in Europe
 Dogs Got 
 Their Start 
 in Europe 
study says
Nov 14, 2013 7:21 PM CST

Dogs Got Their Start in Europe

And a lot earlier than thought, according to new study

(Newser) - Dogs have been hanging out with humans way longer than thought, a new study suggests. UCLA researchers say the first ones were ancient wolves that started following hunter and gatherers around Europe between 18,000 and 32,000 years ago, reports the BBC . The finding, which contradicts previous theories that...

Scientist &#39;Solves&#39; Yeti Mystery
 Scientist 'Solves' Yeti Mystery 
NEW RESEARCH
Oct 17, 2013 8:10 AM CDT

Scientist 'Solves' Yeti Mystery

Geneticist suspects it's a polar bear-brown bear hybrid

(Newser) - Whether you call it the Abominable Snowman or yeti, the mythical creature may have just jumped from the pages of fiction to the world of fact. Oxford geneticist Bryan Sykes performed DNA testing on 27 suspected yeti samples that had been sent to him from around the world, and got...

New Patent Opens Can of Worms on 'Designer Babies'

Geneticists worry 23andMe trying to 'breed better people'

(Newser) - A pretty controversial new patent its taking the idea of a designer baby to a whole new level. A trait selection process from 23andMe , based on parent and donor DNA, could, in theory, be used to boost the chances of a particular sex, as well as hair or eye color,...

X Chromosome Actually Looks Nothing Like an X
X Chromosome Actually Looks Nothing Like an X
new report
Sep 28, 2013 6:57 AM CDT

X Chromosome Actually Looks Nothing Like an X

It's more like a lumpy blob of spaghetti

(Newser) - Here's your fun fact for the day: Contrary to popular belief, the X chromosome isn't shaped like an X at all—something that scientists have actually long been aware of. What they haven't known, however, is what that shape is ... until now. Per a paper published in...

Elephant Man Mystery May Soon Be Solved

Bleached bones have posed a problem

(Newser) - For years, doctors have tried to conclusively determine which genetic mutations caused the lumpy skin, misshapen head, and other deformities that made Joseph Merrick the Elephant Man . Now researchers hope they'll finally be able to get a definitive answer. Though they could in theory extract DNA from Merrick's...

Cat DNA Database Helps Convict British Killer

Good news, though: Tinker the cat is OK

(Newser) - CSI Meow-i? A newly created DNA database of British cats has helped convict a killer. The University of Leicester today said its catalog of feline DNA buttressed the prosecution case against David Hilder, who was convicted of manslaughter last month at a court in the English city of Winchester. It'...

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