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A recent study published last year in the journal Cell has identified the ancient origins of a genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV, and how it first appeared in an individual who lived near the Black Sea between 6,700 and 9,000 years ago. Named CCR5 delta 32, the uncommon genetic variant disables a key immune protein used by a large majority of strains of the HIV virus to enter human cells and therefore "locks out" the virus in individuals who carry two copies of the mutation.HIV is a relatively new disease. It was only identified in the last century,...

Social control within spotties goes hand in hand with the overall body size. A female spotty/paketi (an endemic species of wrasse) in the Gemmell Lab at the University of Otago. - Gemmell Lab ========================================================================= Researchers at the University of Otago have discovered that the New Zealand spotty fish, or paketi, can begin displaying dominant behaviors just minutes after a shift in their social order, well before their bodies begin changing sex. The study highlights how quickly social hierarchies can influence this remarkable species’ behavior and even biological transitions. “The aggressive behaviors (called ‘rushes’) involved the dominant fish swimming rapidly towards...

Among the most surprising finds is that the inhabitants of the earliest cities of the Bronze Age (3500–1200 b.c.) were enthusiastic pig eaters, and that even later Iron Age (1200–586 b.c.) residents of Jerusalem enjoyed the occasional pork feast. Yet despite a wealth of data and new techniques including ancient DNA analysis, archaeologists still wrestle with many porcine mysteries, including why the once plentiful animal gradually became scarce long before religious taboos were enacted...In the 1990s, at the site of Hallan Çemi in southeastern Anatolia, archaeologists unearthed 51,000 animal bones dating to about 10,000 b.c. Of these, boar bones made...

Matthew's dad had brown eyes and black hair. His grandparents had piercing blue eyes. There was a running joke in his family that "dad looked nothing like his parents", the teacher from southern England says. It turned out there was a very good reason for this. Matthew's father had been swapped at birth in hospital nearly 80 years ago. He died late last year before learning the truth of his family history. Matthew - not his real name - contacted the BBC after we reported on the case of Susan, who received compensation from an NHS trust after a home...

Scientists were recently baffled by DNA evidence that revealed the existence of a genetically unknown group of early South American settlers. Archaeologists are continually adapting their models for how human populations spread from Asia through North America to South America, and this new research is bound to alter those theories once again. The Associated Press reports that the researchers analyzed ancient DNA from 21 individuals who lived in Colombia's Altiplano Cundiboyacense region thousands of years ago. Located near current-day Bogotá, this area was also close to the ancient land bridge connecting South and Central America, the route that early human...

A new round of DNA testing exonerates a homeless man who has spent nearly four decades in prison for the killing of a Santa Ana nanny, according to defense attorneys who are asking Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer to declare Kenneth Clair innocent of the 1984 slaying. Clair, who spent years on death row before an appellate court overturned his death sentence and he was re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. ...

Evidence of human violence towards other humans during the Paleolithic period is rarely seen in the archaeological record. According to a Live Science report, however, one such case occurred around 17,000 years ago in what is today northern Italy. In 1973, archaeologists uncovered in the Riparo Tagliente rock shelter the partial skeletal remains of a man, known as Tagliente 1, who they determined had died in his 20s.Although the reasons were not readily apparent at the time, recent reanalysis of his bones suggests he may have been the victim of a bloody ambush. Electron microscope scanning and 3D imaging revealed...

A statement released by KU Leuven revealed that Belgian geneticists and their international colleagues conducted the largest-ever DNA study of remains from a medieval cemetery.In 2019, excavations beneath the main square in Sint-Truiden uncovered 3,000 skeletons buried in a former parish graveyard between the eighth and the eighteenth century. The researchers analyzed the remains of 400 of those individuals, which has provided unprecedented new information about the genetic history of the Low Countries.One of the most surprising results was that in the early Middle Ages, the population of Sint-Truiden was far more genetically diverse than in later periods. The scientists...

Buried for hundreds of years, ancient brains are finally speaking. What they’re saying could change everything we thought we knew. A pioneering scientific breakthrough has made it possible to extract proteins from preserved soft tissues, including human brains, revealing a vast archive of biological information that has long remained inaccessible. This new method promises to reshape our understanding of evolution, diet, microbiomes, and even the development of brain cells over millennia. Tapping Into Hidden Biological Archives Every organism is built from proteins—molecules that drive vital processes such as heartbeats and neural communication. When an organism dies, these proteins usually degrade...

On October 12, 1973, Douglas Brick walked out of his dorm at the U and vanished... his disappearance remained a mystery known only by an ever-shrinking circle of people who knew Brick as a brother, a friend, or a roommate...In 2022, University Police hired a crime data analyst, Nikol Mitchell, who, in her work with Utah's Statewide Information and Analysis Center (SIAC) discovered that the U had a cold case that had been lost for at least 20 years.Major Heather Sturzenegger was the investigations lieutenant at the time...Then, the first glimmer came. They discovered that Brick's sister had called university...

..."The unusually well-preserved mummy in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein is the corps of a local parish vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746," said Dr Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and first author of the Frontiers in Medicine article. "Our investigation uncovered that the excellent preservation status came from an unusual type of embalming, achieved by stuffing the abdomen through the rectal canal with wood chips, twigs and fabric, and the addition of zinc chloride for internal drying."The team conducted extensive analyses, including CT scanning, focal autopsy, and radiocarbon dating. The mummy's...

Phys.org reports that farmers were transporting live fish to stock mountain lakes in the Pyrenees much earlier than previously thought. High mountain lakes are often historically fishless due to natural barriers created by glaciers, as was the case with Lake Redon in northeastern Spain. The 240-foot-deep lake is isolated from fluvial waterways by a 330-foot waterfall, which makes it impossible for fish to naturally enter and colonize it. However, there are an estimated 60,000 brown trout living in it today. Historic documents record that the process of fish stocking was begun by at least the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Recent...

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is being approached incorrectly. This is because Palestinians are not Arab. They are culturally arabized Jews/Israelites. I am not the first person to hold this position. Both the first President of the state of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and the Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, believed that the Palestinians were descended from Jews. David Ben-Gurion wrote several books and articles on the subject and even created a task force with Moshe Dayan to “Judaize” the Bedouins. As war and conflict continued this idea was eventually abandoned. At the time there was no way to really know. However, genetics...

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal Subjects of our dread sovereign Lord King James, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our better ordering...

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on Monday announced it is buying 23andMe out of bankruptcy for $256 million – taking with it the company’s extensive trove of genetic samples and data. It will acquire 23andMe’s Personal Genome Service, Total Health and Research Services and its large biobank, including genetic data of more than 15 million customers – raising privacy concerns from individuals who had willingly handed over the samples to completely different owners. All of 23andMe’s genetic testing services will continue uninterrupted, and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 pending bankruptcy court and regulatory approvals, Regeneron said....

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has announced a plan to acquire the bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe for $256 million, raising privacy concerns as the pharmaceutical giant will gain access to the genetic data of over 15 million customers. The New York Post reports that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has seized the opportunity to acquire the once-thriving genetic testing company 23andMe, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The $256 million deal will grant Regeneron access to 23andMe’s extensive collection of genetic samples and data, encompassing the personal information of more than 15 million customers. This acquisition has raised significant concerns among privacy advocates and customers who...

Cutting-edge technology has been used to redate the world-famous Schöningen spears that were discovered in the mid-1990s, according to a statement released by the University of York. At the time, experts estimated that 10 wooden weapons were around 400,000 or 300,000 years old, making them among the oldest hunting weapons ever found. However, scientists recently used a dating method known as amino acid geochronology, which analyzes amino acids locked in snail shells buried in sediment layers, to determine that the spears were around 100,000 years younger. This likely means that the weapons were created and wielded by Neanderthals and not...

Nearly half a century after a young California woman was strangled, officials say a thumbprint on a carton of cigarettes has led to an arrest. Willie Eugene Sims was arrested in Jefferson, Ohio, in connection with the death of Jeanette Ralston, according to a Friday statement from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Sims, 69, has been charged with murder and was arraigned on Friday in Ashtabula County Court before being sent to California. (snip) A thumbprint found on Ralston’s cigarette carton in her car was found to match Sims’s last fall after law enforcement had asked to run...

A new study finds humanity's closest living relatives will chew plants and apply makeshift poultices to wounds, and use leaves for a hygienic scrub. VIDEO AT LINK.............. Wild chimpanzees have been observed self-medicating their wounds with plants, providing medical aid to other chimps and even removing others from snares left by human hunters, new research suggests. The behaviors — which are documented in a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Evolution and Ecology on Wednesday — provide new clues about the origin of medical care in humans. The study combines historical data and about eight months of new...

A creepy creature with unsettling human-like hands has been discovered in Michigan. Is it a new species, or something else entirely? A strange and eerie discovery at Michigan State University has captured the attention of scientists and folklore enthusiasts alike. A bizarre mummified creature, dubbed the ‘Capacabra‘ (a name inspired by the legendary chupacabra), with human-like hands was found during renovations of Cook-Seevers Hall. A Creature With Human-like Features Found in a University Discovered in 2018, the Capacabra has baffled scientists since its unveiling. According to Jerielle Cartales, a Ph.D. student involved in the investigation, the creature is about the...