New genomic research suggests our species descended from a deep fusion between two ancient lineages — one of them a mysterious “ghost.” ...

For more than a century, Mendelian genetics has shaped how we think about inheritance: one gene, one trait. It is a model that still echoes through textbooks—and one that is increasingly reaching its ...

From epic poetry to game shows, from Stone Age axes to spaceflight, humans have the most complex cultures of any species on Earth. Since the time of Darwin, scientists have suspected that this culture ...

For more than 50 years, scientists have been freezing living cells from endangered species. Here’s how the Frozen Zoo® is ...

Centromeres play virtually the same central role across the entire tree of life: They ensure the faithful segregation of ...

A growing body of genetic evidence suggests that Neanderthals and Denisovans carried many of the same regulatory gene networks linked to language and vocal anatomy in modern humans, challenging the ...

How did horses become some of the greatest athletes in the animal kingdom? Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine may have found the answer, pinpointing a genetic mutation and evolutionary process that ...

Life’s story may stretch further back than scientists once thought. Some genes found in nearly every organism today were already duplicated before all life shared a common ancestor. By tracking these ...

Cucumber is an economically important crop worldwide, ranking as the third most-produced vegetable after tomatoes and onions.