The many breeds of domestic dogs vary enormously in body size, even though all domestic dogs belong to one species. An international team of scientists has carried out a wide-ranging study of genes that influence body size in domestic and wild dogs. A gene named IGF1 is already known to have a strong influence on […]
Fish fins forming limbs found, according to articles in BBC Science Focus and ScienceDaily 4 February 2021 and Cell 4 February 2021 doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.003. Scientists at Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital have found mutations of two genes that result in the formation of extra bones in the pectoral (front) fins of zebrafish. Zebrafish are ray-finned […]
We’ve all lost 20 genes, according to reports in ScienceNOW and Science, vol. 335 pp. 823-828 17 February 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215040. As more human genomes are studied, scientists are finding many differences between individuals. Some of these may be just harmless variations, but others may cause genes to become non-functional. As genome technology improves scientists […]
Short dog leg gene found, according to articles in National Institutes of Health News 16 July 2009 and ScienceDaily 17 July 2009 and Science, vol. 325, p995, 21 August 2009 (originally published in Science Express on 16 July 2009). An international team of scientists have found the gene that gives dog breeds such as dachshund, […]
Is bird flu evolving? ask many readers. Numerous warnings that the Avian Influenza virus will mutate and cause a pandemic have been in the scientific news services over the last few months. As a result we have received many questions about whether the virus is evolving. Editorial Comment: Bird flu is one of a number […]
Humans made pigs and prey evolve, according to articles in EurekAlert 12 and 15 Jan 2009 and New Scientist, 16 Jan 2009. A team of researchers led by evolutionary ecologist Chris Darimont from University of California, Santa Cruz have analysed changes in 29 species that are commercially harvested, including fish, shellfish, bighorn sheep, caribou, and […]
“Human beings are getting dumber” proclaims an article in news.com 19 February 2013. This blunt unflattering assessment of humanity is based on articles by Gerald Crabtree of Stanford University entitled “Our Fragile Intellect” published in Trends in Genetics January 2013. Crabtree lists two reasons: genetic mutations have damaged genes involved in human intellect, and evolution […]
Humans evolving in Tibet, according to an article in news@nature and ScienceNOW, 16 Sept 2004. Cynthia Beall of Case Western Reserve University, Ohio interviewed thousands of people living in villages in Tibet and drew up detailed family trees and medical histories. They also tested the concentration of oxygen in the villagers’ blood and found that […]
John Avise of Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, has written an article in PNAS claiming that the human genome is so full of “dysfunctional traits” that it could not possibly be designed by an intelligent creator. He writes: “Here, I highlight several outlandish features of the human genome that defy […]
Grey horse gene found, according to EurekAlert 20 July 2008 and ScienceNOW, 21 July 2008. Grey horses are born with black, brown or chestnut coloured coats but begin to lose their colour early in life, and are often completely white by the age of eight. Although their hair turns white, the skin remains pigmented, in […]