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Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81
Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81
The Cardiff University researcher was famous both for his work on genetic disorders and for his documentation of the history of his field.
Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81
Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81

The Cardiff University researcher was famous both for his work on genetic disorders and for his documentation of the history of his field.

The Cardiff University researcher was famous both for his work on genetic disorders and for his documentation of the history of his field.

history, genetics & genomics

New Genome Sequences Reveal Undescribed African Migration
Max Kozlov | Oct 29, 2020 | 5 min read
An analysis of the genomes of people from 50 ethnolinguistic groups in Africa spots 62 genes under positive selection and 3 million more genetic variants than previously documented.
Ancient Wheat Genome Reveals Clues to the Agricultural Past
Jef Akst | Mar 1, 2020 | 5 min read
A museum sample of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian crop plant yields genomic information that helps researchers track the plant’s domestication and migration.
Genomics Reveals How Humans Can Inadvertently Drive Plant Mimicry
Shawna Williams | Mar 1, 2020 | 4 min read
Hand weeding of fields spurred an interloper to evolve a rice-like appearance, researchers conclude.
Ancient DNA Traces History of South Asians
Catherine Offord | Sep 6, 2019 | 2 min read
Modern-day populations in India descend from a mixture of peoples living thousands of years ago in South and Central Asia, including the Bronze-Age Indus Valley Civilization, two studies reveal.
Modern Synthesis, 1937
Chia-Yi Hou | Sep 1, 2019 | 2 min read
Theodosius Dobzhansky’s work in population genetics influenced how genetics and natural selection were combined in evolutionary biology.
skeleton lake
Image of the Day: Skeleton Lake
Nicoletta Lanese | Aug 23, 2019 | 1 min read
Human remains around Roopkund Lake in India bear South Asian, East Asian, and Mediterranean ancestry.
Tibetan Plateau tools
Humans Made Tools Atop the Tibetan Plateau More than 30,000 Years Ago
Shawna Williams | Mar 1, 2019 | 5 min read
A finding pushes back the timeline on humankind’s conquest of one of Earth’s harshest environments, and may provide clues about interactions with their hominin relatives.
Lifespan Less Heritable than Previously Thought
Abby Olena, PhD | Nov 6, 2018 | 3 min read
Some of the longevity that appears to run in families can instead be attributed to people choosing life partners with similar characteristics.
Science History: The First Transgenic Arabidopsis
Kerry Grens | Oct 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Tweaks to a transformation protocol in 1986 cemented the little plant's mighty role in plant genetics research.
Picturing Inheritance, 1916
Amanda B. Keener | May 1, 2016 | 3 min read
This year marks the centennial of Calvin Bridges’s description of nondisjunction as proof that chromosomes are vehicles for inheritance.
Origins of Dysentery
Bob Grant | Mar 21, 2016 | 2 min read
A new genomic analysis reveals that the pathogen responsible for the gastrointestinal disease likely originated in Europe and hitched a ride to new lands with settlers.
Mendel in the Hot Seat, 1902
Karen Zusi | Feb 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Raphael Weldon’s critiques of Mendelian principles were 100 years ahead of his time.
Centennial Shigella
Jef Akst | Feb 1, 2015 | 4 min read
A strain of the dysentery-causing bacterium isolated in 1915 tells the story of a young soldier who died of the disease in the early days of World War I.
Royal Remains Confirmed
Molly Sharlach | Dec 3, 2014 | 2 min read
Bones unearthed in 2012 are likely those of King Richard III, a new DNA analysis shows.
Jewish Heritage Written in DNA
Kate Yandell | Sep 9, 2014 | 3 min read
Fully sequenced genomes of more than 100 Ashkenazi people clarify the group’s history and provide a reference for researchers and physicians trying to pinpoint disease-associated genes.
Lords of the Fly, circa 1910
Dan Cossins | Sep 1, 2013 | 3 min read
In a cramped lab overflowing with fruit flies, Thomas Hunt Morgan and his protégés made the discoveries that laid the foundations of modern genetics.
The Human Genome Project, Then and Now
Walter F. Bodmer | Oct 1, 2011 | 3 min read
An early advocate of the sequencing of the human genome reflects on his own predictions from 1986.
The Scientist, Inaugural Issue, 1986
Jef Akst | Oct 1, 2011 | 2 min read
Twenty-five years later, the magazine is still hitting many of the same key discussion points of science.
Data Deluge
Megan Scudellari | Oct 1, 2011 | 7 min read
Large-scale data collection and analysis have fundamentally altered the process and mind-set of biological research.
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