Search Results for: mutations

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76 results
  1. A photo of a South American tapir walking through a green grass field with some bushes in the background.
    Genetics

    Here are 5 cool findings from a massive project on 240 mammal genomes

    A new series of studies on mammal genetics is helping scientists start to answer questions about evolution, cancer and even what makes us human.

    By Meghan Rosen
  2. image of an octopus
    Animals

    Octopuses and squid are masters of RNA editing while leaving DNA intact

    Modifications to RNA could explain the intelligence and flexibility of shell-less cephalopods.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  3. A photo of a dead pelican laying on a beach in Lima, Peru while a flock of other birds fly in the background.
    Health & Medicine

    Bird flu can jump to mammals. Should we worry?

    Reports of bears and sea lions infected with H5N1 have sparked fears about the pandemic potential of bird flu. Experts are keeping a close eye on its spread.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  4. A photo of several different breeds of dogs standing on concrete.
    Animals

    What the first look at the genetics of Chernobyl’s dogs revealed

    Dogs living in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant industrial area are genetically distinct from other dogs, but scientists don’t yet know if radiation is the reason.

    By Meghan Rosen
  5. A house mouse eating on the ground
    Animals

    A natural gene drive could steer invasive rodents on islands to extinction

    A few genetic tweaks to a readily passed-on chunk of DNA could sterilize a mouse population, eliminating them in as little as 25 years.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  6. A Golden Syrian hamster that was saved from Hong Kong's cull of the rodents peeks out of its little house inside its cage.
    Animals

    Some hamsters are extremely susceptible to COVID-19

    Golden Syrian hamsters used in research and popular as pets can become infected with SARS-CoV-2 with very low doses of the virus, a new study suggests.

    By Helen Thompson
  7. elephants
    Animals

    Tuskless elephants became common as an evolutionary response to poachers

    After poachers tore through a Mozambican elephant population, tuskless females tripled in number as humans altered the species’s evolutionary trajectory.

    By Jake Buehler
  8. A vampire bat in flight at night
    Life

    Lost genes may help explain how vampire bats survive on blood alone

    The 13 identified genes underpin a range of physiological and behavioral strategies that the bats have evolved.

    By Richard Kemeny
  9. a European hedgehog next to a mossy plant
    Microbes

    Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics

    A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.

    By Carolyn Wilke
  10. rabbit standing on front paws
    Animals

    A gene defect may make rabbits do handstands instead of hop

    Mutations in a gene typically found throughout the nervous system rob rabbits of their ability to hop. Instead, the animals walk on their front paws.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  11. image of Mr. Frosty the gecko
    Animals

    How a gecko named Mr. Frosty could help shed new light on skin cancer

    The distinctive coloring and skin tumors of a type of gecko called Lemon Frost have been pegged to a gene implicated in human skin cancer.

    By Maria Temming
  12. image of a Richard’s pipit amid grass
    Life

    Some songbirds now migrate east to west. Climate change may play a role

    In recent decades, more Richard's pipits are wintering in Europe than before. It may signal the establishment of a totally new migration route.

    By Jake Buehler