DNA

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Amid 'Substantial Doubt,' 23andMe Cuts 40% of Workers

Genetic testing company to slash 200 jobs in restructuring effort after a painful year

(Newser) - The genetic testing company 23andMe hasn't been doing so hot lately, watching its share price plummet more than 70% this year, and CEO Anne Wojcicki has desperately been trying to right the ship. Now, a streamlining: The BBC reports the firm has slashed 200 jobs, or about 40% of...

'The Story Long Spun' About Pompeii Victims Was Wrong

DNA evidence changes a couple of long-held assumptions

(Newser) - When a volcanic eruption buried the ancient city of Pompeii, the last desperate moments of its citizens were preserved in stone for centuries. Observers see stories in the plaster casts later made of their bodies, like a mother holding a child and two women embracing as they die. But new...

Scientists: Yep, That's Christopher Columbus' Remains
Scientists: Yep, That's
Christopher Columbus' Remains
in case you missed it
Oct 13, 2024 11:05 AM CDT

Scientists: Yep, That's Christopher Columbus' Remains

DNA confirms remains in Spain's Seville Cathedral belong to the explorer

(Newser) - We know where he went and now we know where he ended up. The final resting place of Christopher Columbus, the 15th-century explorer, has been confirmed more than five centuries after his death, according to Spanish experts. Spain's Seville Cathedral has long claimed to hold the remains of Columbus,...

Shark That Can Live 400 Years Reveals Its Secret
Shark That Can Live
400 Years Reveals Its Secret
NEW STUDY
Sep 24, 2024 1:58 PM CDT

Shark That Can Live 400 Years Reveals Its Secret

Greenland shark genome shows duplicated genes involved in DNA repair

(Newser) - The Greenland shark is the world's longest-living vertebrate, or animal with a backbone, capable of living a mind-bending 400 years. Now, with the mapping of the shark's genome, the biggest of any shark sequenced to date, researchers say they've unlocked potential secrets to the animal's longevity...

Nearly 50 Years Later, Man Charged in Deaths of 3 Women

Authorities say Mississippi's Warren Alexander strangled victims in 1977 in Southern California

(Newser) - A 73-year-old man has been charged in the strangulation deaths of three Southern California women in 1977 after cold case detectives obtained a DNA match, authorities said Thursday, adding they believe there could be more victims. Warren Luther Alexander of Diamondhead, Mississippi, made his first court appearance Thursday, but arraignment...

Cold-Case Murder Suspect Kills Himself as Cops Close In

DNA evidence indicates Hawaii's Albert Lauro Jr. raped Dana Ireland in 1991

(Newser) - A man identified as a new possible suspect in the killing and sexual assault of a Virginia woman who was visiting Hawaii more than three decades ago killed himself recently after police took a DNA swab from him, officials said. The Hawaii Police Department on Monday said they matched DNA...

Gene Fights Pancreatic Cancer—Until It Doesn't
Gene Fights Pancreatic
Cancer—Until It Doesn't
NEW STUDY
Jul 16, 2024 1:20 PM CDT

Gene Fights Pancreatic Cancer—Until It Doesn't

Disease switches off beneficial gene HNF4A, a finding that could lead to new treatments

(Newser) - Pancreatic cancer succeeds by shutting down a gene that works to slow the growth of the disease, a breakthrough discovery that could lead to new treatments for one of the world's deadliest cancers. "Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival of all the 20 common cancers," says Dr....

Niagara Falls Victim's Body Was Found 140 Miles Away

Vincent Stack's remains likely drifted for 16 months

(Newser) - Remains found on the shores of Lake Ontario 32 years ago have now been identified as those of a New York man who's believed to have gone over Niagara Falls. CBS News reports the "badly decomposed and mostly skeletal" remains were found some 140 miles from the falls...

Report: 'Star' DNA Scientist Manipulated Evidence

Colorado probe into work of Yvonne 'Missy' Woods says her manipulation affected at least 652 cases

(Newser) - An esteemed analyst known as "Colorado's star DNA scientist" purposely manipulated evidence for years, involving hundreds (if not more) of the cases she worked on and putting the spotlight on her entire career, according to an investigation. According to a report released Friday by the Colorado Bureau of...

23andMe Has Gone From Hot to Not. Can Its CEO Save It?

Stocks are trading below $1, but Anne Wojcicki sees promise in drug development

(Newser) - Genetic testing company 23andMe's stock is trading at around 75 cents as of this writing, a precipitous fall for a company that the Wall Street Journal dubs "one of the hottest startups in the world ... five years ago." Its valuation has fallen 98% from its former $6...

They Were Stabbed and Left to Die. 50 Years Later, a Suspect

Indianapolis cops say Thomas Edward Williams, attacked 2 sisters, friend in 1975; he has since died

(Newser) - A nearly 50-year-old cold case surrounding three young girls stabbed and left to die in an Indiana cornfield has finally reached a conclusion, although it's one that will end without justice. In a Thursday presser , the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced that DNA evidence was able to help identify...

Here, Doggy DNA Is Key to a 'Poo Crackdown'

Bolzano province in Italy setting up database to nail pooches pooping in public, with a fine for owners

(Newser) - An Italian province is sick of this crap, and it's not going to take it anymore. A database is being set up in Bolzano, in the northern part of the country, to register DNA info from the region's 40,000 or so dogs, so that when they poop...

Moon Lander—and Its Human Remains—to Burn
Doomed Lunar
Lander Meets
Its End
UPDATED
Jan 19, 2024 12:30 AM CST

Doomed Lunar Lander Meets Its End

Astrobotic's Peregrine burns up reentering Earth's atmosphere, along with human remains

(Newser) - The doomed Peregrine moon lander burned up in Earth's atmosphere over a remote stretch of the South Pacific on Thursday, as planned after the spacecraft suffered a malfunction that left it unable to reach the moon. "We commend @Astrobotic for their perseverance," NASA said in a statement...

Remains of Victim at World Trade Center Are Identified

John Niven's family say officials' effort reflects 'Never Forget'

(Newser) - The remains of a Long Island man killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 have been identified more than two decades after the 2001 attacks, the New York City medical examiner's office announced Thursday. John Ballantine Niven was a 44-year-old executive at Aon Risk Services, an insurance firm...

Ancient DNA Provides 'Quantum Leap' in Understanding of MS

Herders who migrated to Europe 5K years ago brought increased risk of disease, researchers say

(Newser) - Around 5,000 years ago, a people called the Yamnaya swept into northwestern Europe on horseback, bringing their wagons, cattle, and sheep—along with genes that researchers believe are responsible for higher rates of multiple sclerosis in the region today. In a study published in the journal Nature , researchers say...

As Glacier Ice Melted, Another Grisly Find

Cops say body found near Matterhorn is German mountaineer who went missing 37 years ago

(Newser) - DNA tests have confirmed that the body recently found on a glacier southeast of the famed Matterhorn peak is that of a German mountaineer who disappeared 37 years ago, police in southwestern Switzerland said Thursday. Increasing glacier melt, which many scientists blame on global warming, has spurred a recent increase...

Court Filing Reveals DNA Evidence Against Kohberger

DNA on knife sheath a 'statistical match' to suspect

(Newser) - DNA on a knife sheath found at the home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death last fall is a "statistical match" to that collected from suspect Bryan Kohberger, prosecutors disclosed in a court filing. In the June 16 filing, prosecutors said the STR profile, a...

Killer Receives Life Sentence in 1999 Deaths of Teenage Girls

DNA testing tied Coley McCraney to the slayings

(Newser) - An Alabama judge sentenced a man to life imprisonment without possibility of parole on Thursday, bringing a close to the case of the slayings of two teenage girls in 1999. Coley McCraney was convicted of capital murder in April by a jury that decided the sentence, which the judge was...

Amateur Sleuth Sues FBI Over DB Cooper's Clip-On Tie

Eric Ulis wants to find DNA, then enter it in ancestry databases

(Newser) - Eric Ulis said last fall that he thinks he knows the identity of DB Cooper, as the man who jumped out of a plane with $200,000 after a 1971 skyjacking is known, but he needs the FBI's cooperation to prove it. Ulis sued the FBI on Wednesday in...

Sweet Potato Leads to Arrest in Massachusetts Cold Case

Officials were able to match DNA from the root vegetable left at the scene with suspect

(Newser) - After Todd Lampley was shot in the bedroom of a Massachusetts home on February 27, 2011, police recovered evidence outside the bedroom window: shell casings, a cellphone, and a sweet potato. Twelve years later, there's finally an arrest in the case, and authorities say DNA left on that sweet...

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