Human Evolution

Meet some of the people featured in the August 2016 issue of The Scientist.

Some thoughts on going to the Galápagos

Brexit's effect on science, melding disciplines, and more

The high schooler was studying cancer biomarkers in a George Mason University lab when her familial experiences with Lyme disease sparked an idea.

Preliminary research suggests that the brains of schizophrenia patients may regain tissue mass as the illness wears on.

Can oxytocin help increase eye contact in patients with autism, thus opening up a whole new world of social interaction?

Climate variation has sculpted our schnozzes since the earliest humans evolved, but environmental pressures can’t explain everything.

The modern human brain evolved in social and environmental settings very unlike today’s. Despite our cultural and technological progress, tribal instincts remain.

Why does cooperation evolve most often in monogamous animals?

Researchers have designed a screen to find unique molecules, called riboswitches, that determine whether transcription will proceed.

Immune cells called macrophages from the peritoneal cavity of mice migrate to injured livers and aid in repair.

A chloroplast mutation has dramatically affected the genomes of railside populations of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Researchers reveal how seals affect vegetation patterns and influence the movement of feral horse populations on Sable Island in Canada.

From sequencing bacteriophages to synthesizing bacterial genomes to defining a minimal genome

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT. Age: 34

Profiles of five programs for quantifying data from Westerns, dot blots, gels, and colony cultures

A point-and-click interface alternative to command-line tools that allows researchers to easily create, run, and troubleshoot serial sequence analyses

The state’s industry draws inspiration from medicine as well as agriculture.

Our evolutionary cousin is no longer a blundering caveman. Recent research has painted a picture of a human ancestor with culture, art, and advanced cognitive skills.

Idiot Brain, Wild Sex, Why Diets Make Us Fat, and The Ethics of Invention

By ditching traditional agar-based media, two biochemists captured iconic images of Myxococcus in 1982.