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genetics

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How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA

By C. Brandon Ogbunu
July 31, 2023
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For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which they’ve only recently begun to understand.

Three “inquiline” social parasites of the clonal raider ant species, showing their queenlike wings on worker-size bodies, on a white background.
evolution

A Mutation Turned Ants Into Parasites in One Generation

By Viviane Callier
May 8, 2023
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A new genetics study of ant “social parasites” shows how complex sets of features can emerge rapidly and potentially split species.

biodiversity

How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate

By Anna Funk
April 25, 2023
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A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals.

Illustration of butterflies with similar wing-color patterns holding bundles of DNA.
genetics

How Supergenes Fuel Evolution Despite Harmful Mutations

By Carrie Arnold
November 8, 2022
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Supergenes that lock inherited traits together are widespread in nature. Recent work shows that their blend of genetic benefits and risks for species can be complex.

The Joy of Why

Why Do We Get Old, and Can Aging Be Reversed?

By Steven Strogatz
July 27, 2022
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Everybody gets older, but not everyone ages in the same way. In this episode, Steven Strogatz speaks with Judith Campisi and Dena Dubal, two biomedical researchers who study the aging process.

Q&A

When a Gene Illness Discovery Means Breaking Bad News

By Rachel Crowell
December 14, 2021
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When scientists discover genes linked to dangerous illnesses in their samples, how should they convey that news to the study participants? The geneticist Cristen Willer had to tackle that challenge.

Portrait photo of Catherine Dulac of Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Q&A

Catherine Dulac Finds Brain Circuitry Behind Sex-Specific Behaviors

By Claudia Dreifus
December 14, 2020
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Catherine Dulac is overturning preconceptions about “male” and “female” instincts and opening new avenues to treating postpartum depression.

Illustration of a blue tiger.
Abstractions blog

How Neutral Theory Altered Ideas About Biodiversity

By Christie Wilcox
December 8, 2020
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The simple insight that most changes are random had a profound effect on genetics, evolution and ecology.

Photo of one of the Russian sturgeon-paddlefish hybrids called sturddlefish.
Abstractions blog

Extra DNA May Make Unlikely Hybrid Fish Possible

By Christie Wilcox
August 5, 2020
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The unintentional creation of “sturddlefish” hybrids may illuminate the genomic mechanisms that govern whether species can interbreed.


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