Dna | featured news

In the hope of reconstructing a pivotal step in evolution — the colonization of land by fish that learned to walk and breathe air — researchers have decoded the genome of the coelacanth, a prehistoric-looking fish whose form closely resembles those seen in the fossils of 400 million years ago.

Ancient DNA shows that bowhead whales bucked the trend to survive the last Ice Age, say scientists. The demise of cold-adapted land mammals such as mammoths has been linked to rising temperatures around 11,000 years ago. But researchers were surprised to find a contrasting population boom for whales living off the coast of Britain.

You're older than you think. DNA from an unnamed African-American from South Carolina is so distinctive that it led scientists to a unique conclusion: The roots of the human tree date back much further than previously thought.

With the reams of digital data we’re creating, there’s an immense potential for DNA to be a stable, long-term archive for ordinary information, such as photographs, books, financial records, medical files, and videos—all of which today are stored as computer code on fallible, power-hungry storage devices that, unlike DNA, become obsolete.

The biggest study yet into genetics and mental health has come up with a stunning result: The five most common mental illnesses -- autism, attention deficit disorder, bipolar disease, schizophrenia and major depression -- all have a common genetic root.

Using DNA sequencing, researchers distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' strains of certain skin bacteria. The 'good' kind might be used to zap zits more effectively, they say.

Europe’s horse meat scandal has claimed Ikea meatballs, those mysteriously cheap, lingonberry-sauced snacks that have gained something of a cult following among fans of the furniture store. On Monday, Ikea withdrew bags of the meatballs from 21 European countries after officials in the Czech Republic found traces of horse DNA in a bag labeled as beef and pork.

So hungry you could eat a horse? Chances are, if you've regularly consumed processed-meat products in Europe, you already have. Since Ireland published surprise DNA results on Jan. 15 showing that a third of frozen "beef" burgers in Ireland contained at least a trace of horse, food scientists in more than a dozen countries have found the animal trotting into products where it was never meant to roam.

Nonprofit ocean protection group Oceana took 1,215 samples of fish from across the United States and genetically tested them in order to bring us the following astonishing facts: 59% of the fish labeled "tuna" sold at restaurants and grocery stores in the US is not tuna. Sushi restaurants were far more likely to mislabel their fish than grocery stores or other restaurants.

Nestle SA has withdrawn beef pasta meals from sale in Italy and Spain after tests found horse DNA. Horse meat has found its way into ready-to-eat meals sold across Europe in a meat mislabeling scandal that has shaken the food industry.