Genetics

Researchers Produce First ‘Telomere-To-Telomere’ Sequence of Human Chromosome A team of U.S. and U.K. scientists has generated the end-to-end gapless DNA sequence of the human X chromosome. A telomere is the end of a chromosome that protects the interior of a chromosome from damage during cell division. Image credit: Darryl …

Sled Dogs Emerged Over 9,500 Years Ago in Siberia: Study An international team of researchers has sequenced the genomes of 10 modern sled dogs, an ancient sled dog and an ancient wolf, both from Siberia, and analyzed their genetic relationships with other modern dogs. They’ve found that sled dogs represent …

European Medicinal Leech Genome Sequenced Researchers have for the first time mapped the genome of the European medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis), one of the most prominently used medicinal species. The European medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis). Image credit: Sebastian Kvist. Today, two leech species — Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana — …

Researchers Identify 126,018 Human Genetic Variations A team of scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Francis Crick Institute, and EMBL-EBI has created a comprehensive structural variation atlas for a geographically diverse set of human genomes and recovered sequences missing from the human reference sequence. Among the 126,018 structural variations discovered …

Scientists Unravel Genetic Mysteries of Dead Sea Scrolls The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls had an incomparable impact on the historical understanding of Judaism and Christianity. ‘Piecing together’ scroll fragments is like solving jigsaw puzzles with an unknown number of missing parts. Because most of the 2,000-year-old scrolls were …

Researchers Sequence Genome of Jojoba Plant An international team of scientists has for the first time mapped the entire genome of the jojoba plant (Simmondsia chinensis). The jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) in King Canyon Wash, Saguaro National Park West, Arizona, the United States. Image credit: Katja Schulz / CC BY 2.0. …

Scientists Sequence An international team of researchers has successfully sequenced the genome of Penium margaritaceum, a single-celled alga species that belongs to Zygnematophyceae, the sister lineage to land plants, provides many clues to how aquatic plants first colonized land. Penium margaritaceum. Image credit: Cornell University. Penium margaritaceum belongs to a …

Vietnam Has Very Rich Genetic Diversity, New Research Shows Vietnam features extensive ethnolinguistic diversity and occupies a key position in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Yet, the genetic diversity of the country remains relatively unexplored, especially with genome-wide data, because previous studies have focused mainly on the majority Kinh group. In …

Genetic Study Identifies Three Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus In a phylogenetic network analysis of the first 160 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 to be sequenced from human patients, an international team of scientists found three distinct variants of SARS-CoV-2: A, B and C: the A and C types are found in …

Scientists Decode Genome of Sterlet Sturgeon An international team of researchers from the United States and Europe has produced the first high-quality genomic sequence for the sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), a small species of sturgeon from Eurasia. The sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus). Image credit: Andreas Hartl. Sturgeons are among the oldest species …