The field is given a boost by a widening of focus at the institutes as well as a report praising a major initiative. During the brief earthly tenure of the species Homo sapiens, the human genome seems to have accumulated just the right amount of variation to suit the purposes of geneticists. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the DNA bases that vary systematically between subpopulations, are common enough to serve usefully as chromosomal markers but not so common as to make genetic analys
Brianna Chrisman and Jordan Eizenga | Sep 1, 2022 | 10+ min read
Thirty years out from the start of the Human Genome Project, researchers have finally finished sequencing the full 3 billion bases of a person’s genetic code. But even a complete reference genome has its shortcomings.
The Scientist and Jerome Siegel | Mar 1, 2016 | 10+ min read
Once believed to be unique to birds and mammals, sleep is found across the metazoan kingdom. Some animals, it seems, can’t live without it, though no one knows exactly why.
Conservationists are reintroducing large animals to areas they once roamed, providing ecologists with the chance to assess whether such “rewilding” efforts can restore lost ecosystems.
Life sciences took center stage virtually around the world June 26. President Bill Clinton, flanked on the left by Celera Genomics Group president J. Craig Venter and on the right by National Human Genome Research Institute director Francis S. Collins, announced the completion of "the first survey of the entire human genome."