Genetics

A team of researchers from the University of East Anglia, Earlham Institute and the UK’s National Institute for Agricultural Botany has successfully sequenced the genome of the common primrose (Primula vulgaris), a species of flowering plant native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and parts of southwest Asia. The …

A team of scientists from the United States and Brazil has successfully sequenced the genome of the turquoise-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva) and compared it with those of 30 other bird species, including 4 additional parrots. The turquoise-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva). Image credit: Charles J. Sharp, www.sharpphotography.co.uk / CC …

A team of researchers from the United States and Germany has sequenced and analyzed the genome of the moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). The results show that early jellyfish repurposed an existing set of genes to transition between polyp and swimming life stages. The moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). Image credit: Alexander …

A team of scientists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of California, Santa Cruz, has found evidence that an evolutionary phenomenon at work in complex organisms is at play in archaea, a group of single-celled microorganisms famous for their love of living in extreme environments. Microscopy image of …

A team of researchers from Yale University, the University of Oviedo in Spain, the Galapagos Conservancy, and the Galapagos National Park Service has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of Lonesome George — the iconic last member of the Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii) — and the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea), …

An international team of researchers from Germany and the United States has sequenced the genome of the giant tegu (Salvator merianae), also known as the black and white tegu, a South American lizard with its own heating system. The giant tegu (Salvator merianae). Image credit: Renato Recoder. “Most reptiles are …

Some things you learn in school turn out not to be true, for example that there are just five senses or three states of matter. Now cutting-edge research has added to the list by proving the mitochondria (the power sources in our cells) comes from both our parents and not …

A new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has found that the more sensitive people are to the bitter taste of caffeine, the more coffee they drink. Ong et al investigated the causal relationship between bitter taste perception and the consumption of coffee, tea and alcohol. Image credit: Tabble. …

Today, fewer than 4,000 free-ranging tigers survive in the wild, covering only 7% of their historical range. Efforts to protect these animals have been stymied by uncertainty about whether they comprise six, five, or two subspecies. Now, researchers who’ve analyzed the complete genomes of 32 representative specimens confirm that tigers …

An international team of over 100 scientists from 16 institutions has sequenced the genome of the wild sugarcane (Saccharum spontaneum). The results appear in the journal Nature Genetics. The wild sugarcane (Saccharum spontaneum). Image credit: Joydeep / CC BY-SA 3.0. Domesticated in New Guinea approximately 10,000 years ago, ‘reeds that …