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The ancestors of all modern humans split off from a mystery population 1.5 million years ago and then reconnected with them 300,000 years ago, a new genetic model suggests. The unknown population contributed 20% of our DNA and may have boosted humans' brain function...In a study published Tuesday (March 18) in the journal Nature Genetics, researchers presented a new method of modeling genomic data, called "cobraa," that has allowed them to trace the evolution of modern humans (Homo sapiens).By applying their new method to modern human DNA data published in the 1000 Genomes Project and the Human Genome Diversity Project,...

The modern potato exists thanks to a 9-million-year-old hybrid between tomato-like and potato-like plants. Credit: Shutterstock ========================================================================== Scientists have finally uncovered the ancient secret behind the potato’s origin—and it involves an unexpected genetic romance. About 9 million years ago, a wild interbreeding event occurred between a tomato-like plant and a potato-relative in the Andes. This rare hybridization gave rise to the first tuber-forming plants. Ancient Hybrid Sparked the Potato’s Origins An international team of scientists has discovered that the modern potato originated from a natural crossbreeding event between tomato plants and potato-like wild species in South America around 9 million...

...archaeological evidence at one site called Madjedbebe in the far north of Australia's Northern Territory suggests the area may have been occupied much earlier -- at least 65,000 years ago.Archaeologists recovered human-made artifacts, including stone tools and ocher "crayons," from the Madjedbebe rock shelter and published their findings in a 2017 study. One difficulty in dating the artifacts, however, was the copious amount of sand on the floor of the rock shelter, which can move easily and cause artifacts to fall farther down, making them look older than they are.Although the research team took steps to counteract this issue and...

A 4-year-old boy who was found dead in Lorton, Virginia, more than 50 years ago, and whose name has remained a mystery, has finally been identified after a flood of tips, a series of DNA tests and decades of twists and turns. Fairfax County police Chief Kevin Davis announced the breakthrough Monday, saying the child’s identification has led police to two people who are believed to have been involved in his killing, and another missing boy whose body has never been discovered. The case of the boy, identified as 4-year-old Carl Matthew Bryant, confounded police and the public for decades....

For centuries, its origins were shrouded in mystery. But a forgotten cemetery near Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan has revealed stunning new evidence. In this documentary-style deep dive, we explore how 800-year-old graves, ancient inscriptions, and cutting-edge DNA analysis led scientists to pinpoint the true birthplace of the plague that killed tens of millions across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Learn how a single strain of Yersinia pestis, preserved in the teeth of medieval plague victims, was identified as the ancestral source of the Black Death. Discover how trade routes, climate change, and human mobility allowed a microscopic killer to...

Genetic evidence links Jews to their ancient tribe By Judy SiegelJERUSALEM (November 20) - Genetic evidence continues to provide additional proof to the claims that the Jewish people are descended from a common ancient Israelite father: Despite being separated for over 1,000 years, Sephardi Jews of North African origin are genetically indistinguishable from their brethren from Iraq, according to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They also proved that Sephardi Jews are very close genetically to the Jews of Kurdistan, and only slight differences exist between these two groups and Ashkenazi Jews from Europe. These conclusions are reached in an ...

When the well-preserved body of the famous Ötzi the Iceman was recovered from the ice in the Austrian-Italian Alps in 1991, his remains provided archaeologists with a wealth of information about life in Europe more than 5,000 years ago. Surprisingly, sequencing of his genome indicated that he shared a very high proportion of his ancestry with early farmers who lived in Anatolia. Science News Today reports that a groundbreaking new study analyzed the DNA of 47 other individuals who lived alongside Ötzi in the Austrian Tyrol between 6400 and 1300 b.c. to determine if they shared genomic similarities. The research...

Police have arrested a 67-year-old man in connection with the death of a woman over 30 years ago. Shona Stevens, 31, was found badly injured on a footpath in a wooded area near to the rear of Alder Green in the Bourtreehill Park area of Irvine on Thursday, November 10, 1994 and died later in hospital. The police investigation was hampered after vital evidence from the crime scene was feared to have been blown away by the downdraught of the helicopter ­airlifting Shona to hospital in Glasgow. Shona sadly died three days later after sustaining serious head injuries. Five weeks...

Human remains found near an archaeological site in the Guatemalan jungle are thought to be those of a US birdwatcher who was reported missing almost two and a half years ago, local officials say. A lilac shirt, sandals and shorts which match those worn by Raymond Vincent Ashcroft the day of his disappearance were found at the same location where the human bones were discovered, Carlos Soza of the attorney-general's office said. Ashcroft, 66, was part of a birdwatching group visiting the ancient Maya city of Tikal... ... Human bones and clothes matching those worn by Ashcroft were spotted in...

What does it really mean to have German ancestry? If you’ve taken a DNA test and seen the "Germanic" label, your story is far richer, older, and more dynamic than any single result. Groundbreaking genetic research reveals that Germans descend from a tapestry of Ice Age hunters, early farmers, horse-riding steppe migrants, Celtic warriors, and global travelers. Each left its enduring mark, blending survival, innovation, and migration into the DNA of modern Germans. Why German Genetic Origins is Different | 22:17 Evo Inception | 52.4K subscribers | 47,642 views | July 18, 202500:00 – Introduction: Beyond the "Germanic" Label 00:21...

Zebrafish possess a natural superpower that humans lack: the ability to regrow the tiny inner ear cells that are essential for hearing and balance. Scientists have now identified two specific genes responsible for this remarkable regeneration. These genes each control a different type of support cell, helping maintain a steady supply of stem cells while triggering the growth of new hair cells. By decoding this dual mechanism, researchers hope to uncover why humans can’t do the same—and whether we might someday flip the biological switch that restores lost hearing. Why Humans Can’t Regrow Sensory Cells Although the human body can...

Where did... Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian -- come from? ...The analysis, led by a pair of recent graduates with oversight from ancient DNA expert David Reich, integrated genetic data on 180 newly sequenced Siberians with more than 1,000 existing samples covering many continents and about 11,000 years of human history. The results, published this month in the journal Nature, identify the prehistoric progenitors of two important language families, including Uralic, spoken today by more than 25 million people.The study finds the ancestors of present-day Uralic speakers living about 4,500 years ago in northeastern Siberia, within an area now known as...

...Skull binding spread across central Asia in the second century B.C., expanded into Europe around the second and third centuries A.D. and became increasingly popular in central Europe by the first half of the fifth century A.D., according to the authors... For the new study, researchers examined 51 elongated skulls from burials in the Mözs graveyard, in what was once a Roman province known as Pannonia Valeria. The graves, 96 in all, were divided into three groups and represented three generations, from A.D. 430 until the cemetery was abandoned in A.D. 470. The first burial group is thought to be...

Our study explored the evolutionary trajectory of grapevine cultivation in Italy through the analysis of archaeological grape pips spanning approximately 7,000 years...During the Early Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods, the absence of morphologically domestic grapes suggests a reliance on wild grape gathering, possibly with some experiment of proto-cultivation of wild grape.Despite previous research showing the presence of domestic grapes in Middle Bronze Age sites such as Pertosa Cave in southern Italy and Sa Osa in Sardinia, our study of grape pips from several other sites do not reveal robust evidence for domestic grapes in Middle Bronze Age sites in...

Abstract: Ancient Egyptian society flourished for millennia, reaching its peak during the Dynastic Period (approximately 3150–30 bce). However, owing to poor DNA preservation, questions about regional interconnectivity over time have not been addressed because whole-genome sequencing has not yet been possible. Here we sequenced a 2× coverage whole genome from an adult male Egyptian excavated at Nuwayrat (Nuerat, نويرات). Radiocarbon dated to 2855–2570 cal. bce, he lived a few centuries after Egyptian unification, bridging the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. The body was interred in a ceramic pot within a rock-cut tomb1, potentially contributing to the DNA preservation. Most...

A new drug prevents weight gain and fatty liver by controlling magnesium in cells. It made mice stay slim despite lifelong exposure to an unhealthy diet. Credit: Stock Scientists have unveiled a small-molecule drug that blocks weight gain and liver damage in mice forced to live on sugary, high-fat food. The compound works by limiting magnesium inside mitochondria—the cell’s power plants—so energy keeps burning instead of stalling. Treated mice quickly slim down and show no signs of fatty-liver disease, hinting at a future therapy against obesity, heart trouble, and cancer tied to poor diets. Breakthrough Drug Fights Fat and Liver...

A mysterious creature found in Brazil has scientists questioning everything they know about wild canids. With a strange mix of dog and fox traits, this rare hybrid is raising serious concerns. Dogxim' Was Discovered After A Car Accident In 2021. Credit: Instagram/forrest.galante | The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel ================================================================ A strange discovery in southern Brazil has left the scientific community stunned. In 2021, a female canid was found near Vacaria, a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, after being struck by a car. What seemed like an ordinary accident quickly turned into an extraordinary puzzle. Veterinarians...

A groundbreaking new collaboration is working to resurrect one of New Zealand’s most enigmatic lost species, the South Island Giant Moa. Blending ancient knowledge with cutting-edge science, the cooperative initiative has been launched between the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre in collaboration with U.S.-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences and filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson. The initiative seeks to place indigenous values and ecological restoration at the forefront of de-extinction science, representing a historic development in conservation biology. The collaboration marks the first time that an indigenous-led research team will direct a de-extinction initiative of this scale. Based at the University of Canterbury,...

The University of PennsylvaniaSarah Tishkoff, professor in the departments of genetics and biology at University of Pennsylvania, is collecting samples in Africa. Collaboration by University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University PHILADELPHIA –- People who identify as African-American may be as little as 1 percent West African or as much as 99 percent, just one finding of a large-scale, genome-wide study of African and African-American ancestry released today. An international research team led by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University has collected and analyzed genotype data from 365 African-Americans, 203 people from 12 West African populations and...

According to the Academy of Athens, scientists decoded the DNA of the famous Greek feta cheese. Recently, scientists from the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens studied a wide variety of feta cheese produced all across the nation of Greece in an effort to quantify the nutritional specifics of the popular Greek cheese. According to findings, feta cheese has 489 different types of protein, making it one of the most protein-rich cheese varieties in the entire world. Feta cheese is a white cheese produced in Greece and made of sheep’s milk, but it can also be made from...