genetics & genomics

Genetic studies have made it clear that eukaryotic horizontal gene transfer can and does happen. Exactly how, though, remains speculative.

Horizontally transferred genes play significant roles in eukaryotic genomes

DNA passed to and from all kinds of organisms, even across kingdoms, has helped shape the tree of life, to a large and undisputed degree in microbes and also unexpectedly in multicellular fungi, plants, and animals.

The researchers who constructed the first reference genome for this critically endangered mollusk say it will assist restoration efforts.

Research finds that a dog’s behavior has little to do with its genes.

These tiny reef fish harbor luminous bacteria, and the chromosome-level assembly of the species’ genome may facilitate the duo’s use as a vertebrate model for symbiosis.

Analyzing the whole genome sequences of more than 18,000 tumors, researchers catalog nearly 60 new patterns of mutations that could inform cancer treatment.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne evolutionary neurobiologist is using Drosophila to investigate how organisms adapt to novel environments.

A handful of new studies moves the needle toward a consensus on the long-disputed question of whether insect wings evolved from legs or from the body wall, but the devil is in the details.

The near-complete genome of a recently extinct rodent elucidates the potential—and difficulties—of resurrecting species.

Researchers find that evolution can operate on extraordinarily fast timescales.

Jumping genes in bdelloid rotifers are tamped down by DNA methylation performed by an enzyme pilfered from bacteria roughly 60 million years ago, a study finds.

A new link between inflammation and rampant chromosomal abnormalities reveals novel strategies to treat diverse malignancies.

When micronuclei rupture, chromosomes break, recombine, and form circles, causing inflammation and promoting carcinogenic growth.

The dual purposes of the plants’ hidden colors may conflict as the climate warms, authors of a new study suggest.

In work that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers present evidence that microbes can and do live inside the venom glands of several dangerous species. It remains unclear whether they’re to blame for infections linked to bites.

Caskey’s contributions to the field were instrumental to modern genetics.

Whole genome sequences reveal multiple domestications of this agriculturally important tree and may hold the secrets to producing the sweet fruit year round.

Comparing the genomes of modern pathogens with those of cryopreserved strains from several decades ago shed light on the evolution of coffee wilt disease outbreaks in Africa.