DNA

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Move Over, Police Sketches: DNA's On the Case

Forensic phenotyping works, but is it ethical?

(Newser) - The old-fashioned police sketch could soon be obsolete, the Wall Street Journal reports, thanks to DNA forensic phenotyping, an increasingly popular technique that uses crime-scene DNA to describe a suspect. So far, labs can only determine details such as ethnicity and physical traits, but that alone has helped in some...

Sloppy DNA Work Creates Myth of Phantom Serial Killer

Female 'suspect' now believed to have been employee at DNA swab factory

(Newser) - Embarrassed German cops may soon call off their hunt for a notorious female serial killer, the Times of London reports. DNA from a suspect dubbed "the woman without a face” has been found at dozens of crime scenes across Europe, including stranglings and shootings, but detectives now believe the...

Americans Use DNA Tests to Trace African Roots

Obama's rise could accelerate trend

(Newser) - As a kid, Isaiah Washington only knew Africans as the “natives running around with bones in their noses” on TV, “trying to put Tarzan in a pot.” Now, the former Grey’s Anatomy actor is chieftain of a village in Sierra Leone, thanks to a DNA test...

DNA Tests Can Improve Health&mdash;and Ruin Privacy
DNA Tests Can Improve Health—and Ruin Privacy
ANALYSIS
Feb 17, 2009 6:22 PM CST

DNA Tests Can Improve Health—and Ruin Privacy

Testing labs can sell genomes to Big Pharma

(Newser) - Genetic testing is quickly becoming cheaper and widely available, prompting questions of whether the privacy of this most personal data can be ensured, writes Peter Dizikes for Salon. Companies such as 23andMe and Navigenics can study your genes for $399 or so to determine if you're at risk for a...

Baby-Faced Teen May Not Be the Dad
Baby-Faced Teen May Not
Be the Dad
Feb 16, 2009 8:33 AM CST

Baby-Faced Teen May Not Be the Dad

Will take DNA test to disprove two other teens' claims

(Newser) - Four-foot-tall teen dad Alfie Patten will take a DNA test to prove he really is the father of girlfriend Chantelle Steadman’s daughter Maisie, the Mail reports. Photos of the baby-faced 13-year-old caused an uproar last week, and two other teens came forward to claim they also slept with Chantelle....

Scientists Decode Neanderthal Genome

(Newser) - Scientists using ancient fossils have pieced together a rough draft of Neanderthals' genetic code, the Times of London reports. The development could eventually shed light on how they thought, spoke, and functioned, and why they disappeared. Because Neanderthals are humans' closest relatives, scientists may be able to get a better...

Cloning Brings Extinct Ibex Back to Life

Breakthrough may be used to save endangered species

(Newser) - Scientists have used frozen skin samples from a Spanish ibex to create the first clone of an extinct species, reports the Telegraph. The ibex, a wild mountain goat native to the Pyrenees, died out in 2000. Scientists were able to extract DNA from preserved cells and implant it in the...

Eye Trouble May Have Affected Galileo's Observations

Scientists want to exhume astronomer

(Newser) - Galileo’s vision problems may have distorted some of his findings, Reuters reports. Scientists want to exhume the scientist’s body to determine, through DNA tests, the exact nature of his eye condition. “If we knew exactly what was wrong with his eyes we could use computer models to...

The 5 Best Species to Resurrect
 The 5 Best Species to Resurrect 
OPINION
Jan 8, 2009 4:27 PM CST

The 5 Best Species to Resurrect

DNA samples still exist for many extinct megafauna

(Newser) - Now that scientists have the woolly mammoth’s genome, the possibility of resurrecting the giant creatures—and other impressive species from our planet’s past—is a bit closer. Which megafauna would you bring back? New Scientist lists its favorites:
  • Sabre-toothed tiger. This massive cat with huge fangs would surely
...

Are Your Meds Working? Gene Tests Could Tell

Docs could eliminate half of drugs genetics prevent from working

(Newser) - The drugs you take may not actually be working. Experts say that, thanks to various genetic quirks, most drugs only work for about half the people who take them, meaning that much of the roughly $300 billion America spends on drugs each year is wasted. That’s why forward-looking doctors...

Dixie Chicks Sued for Libel in Murder Case

Lead singer accused plaintiff of murdering 3 boys

(Newser) - Outspoken country music stars the Dixie Chicks are being sued for libel and defamation by the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old Arkansas boys murdered 15 years ago. Plaintiff Terry Hobbs claims Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines accused him of the murders at a Little Rock rally in support...

Science Supersizes Thanksgiving

Our fare is not the same as the pilgrims'

(Newser) - Thanksgiving food has undergone massive genetic changes in the centuries since the Pilgrims first prepared the feast, resulting in turkeys more than twice as big and corn six times as sweet. But human taste buds have evolved, too, meaning we don’t necessarily appreciate our new and improved fare any...

Scientists Map DNA of Woolly Mammoth

Neanderthals, early humans could be next

(Newser) - Scientists have pieced together the nearly complete genome of the woolly mammoth from a hair strand found in Siberia, National Geographic reports. It's the first time scientists have decoded the nuclear DNA of an extinct species. The development makes it theoretically possible for the mammoths to roam the earth again...

RNA: Secret Weapon Against Disease

Once seen as weak partner of DNA, gene helps control cells' activity

(Newser) - RNA has long been seen as DNA’s little brother, a messenger between the human genome and cells’ protein factories. But studies point to a bigger role—ribonucleic acid can “turn off” certain genes, for example, fighting a range of health problems, the New York Times reports. “This...

Coke Addicts Can Blame It on DNA
Coke Addicts Can Blame It
on DNA
Nov 10, 2008 8:34 PM CST

Coke Addicts Can Blame It on DNA

Newly uncovered gene boosts chance of getting hooked

(Newser) - A newly discovered gene can improve your chances of getting hooked on cocaine, scientists said today. A study of 670 cocaine addicts and 700 non-users found that addicts were 25% more likely to have the gene variant. The discovery could lead to DNA screenings for those likely to try the...

Cancer Genes Decoded For First Time

Breakthrough view into cancer's genetic roots promises new battle realm

(Newser) - Scientists have unlocked cancer's genetic blueprint for the first time, the New York Times reports. Working with cells from a woman who died of leukemia, they decoded her entire DNA sequence and zeroed in on ten mutations that occurred only in the cancerous cells. Researchers say the breakthrough could someday...

New Fungus Linked to Bat Die-Offs

Scientists probe mass deaths in caves

(Newser) - Scientists have identified a new fungus that might be responsible for the mass deaths of bats in the Northeast. If the findings are borne out, they could help researchers understand and eventually stop the contagion—dubbed white-nose syndrome—that has wiped out entire colonies in their caves, the Los Angeles ...

DNA Study: Ancient Phoenicians Still With Us

Phoenician blood in North Africa, MidEast

(Newser) - The Phoenicians may have disappeared as a distinct society a few thousand years ago, but it turns out their imprint remains very much alive today. Genetic researchers have discovered the DNA of the seafaring civilization in the blood of men—as many as 1 in 17— who live today in...

10 Volunteers Go Public With Their DNA

Database will divulge what really makes a Harvard man, and other genetic secrets

(Newser) - Ten volunteers, including some rather well known ones, are exposing themselves online, the New York Times reports, by making their DNA available for anyone to peruse. The goal of the Personal Genome Project is to start making genetic information—along with personal traits called phenotypes—publicly available, a move whose...

100M-Year-Old DNA Regions Baffle Experts

Mice, humans share mysterious code immune to evolution

(Newser) - Certain regions of mammalian DNA with no discernible purpose have one perplexing characteristic in common: They have survived, without mutation, for as long as 100 million years, LiveScience reports. Scientists speculate that the areas have some deep purpose, but for now they know only that they are “ultraconserved regions,...

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