genomics

Jellyfish didn’t need novel genes to take an evolutionary leap in complexity.

Neither animal, plant, fungus nor familiar protozoan, a strange microbe that sits in its own “supra-kingdom” of life foretells incredible biodiversity yet to be discovered by new sequencing technologies.

For 50 years, evolutionary theory has emphasized the importance of neutral mutations rather than adaptive ones at the level of DNA. Real genomic data challenges that assumption.

A newly discovered mechanism may enable viruses to shuttle genes between bacteria 1,000 times as often as was thought — making them a major force in those cells’ evolution.

The availability of 16 new mouse genomes will help accelerate research into the genetic underpinnings of human traits and diseases.

The first animal genus defined purely by genetic characters represents a new era for the sorting and naming of animals.

With a fully sequenced genome in hand, scientists hope they are finally poised to learn how axolotls regenerate lost body parts.

The more closely geneticists look at complex traits and diseases, the harder it gets to find active genes that don’t play some part in them.

An ambitious study in yeast shows that the health of cells depends on the highly intertwined effects of many genes, few of which can be deleted together without consequence.