dna Archives

Studying the Dolphin Genome for Human Health

March 13, 2017December 19, 2023 Science Connecteddna

Studying the dolphin genome is revealing information that could benefit human health. Scientists are building a database full of dolphin genetic data. By Kate Stone Humans have long been enamored with dolphins. There is something irresistible about dolphins’ playfulness and agility in the water. We portray them in television and film as heroes saving humans from danger through remarkable feats of strength and tenacity. Some people have reported that dolphins saved them from drowning or shark attacks. Now, dolphins may save humans, thanks to a database full of genetic data.…

This map shows the proportion of the genome inferred to be Denisovan in ancestry in diverse non-Africans. The color scale is not linear to allow saturation of the high Denisova proportions in Oceania (bright red) and better visualization of the peak of Denisova proportion in South Asia. Sankararaman et al./Current Biology 2016

Archaeology Biology

Modern Humans, Meet Your Denisovan Ancestors

May 9, 2016October 4, 2023 Science Connecteddna, genetics, human evolution

Do you have Denisovan DNA? New research suggests that some present-day humans derive more of their ancestry from Denisovans than from Neanderthals.

Nuclear magnetic resonance: External view of the Synchrotron SOLEIL in Paris.

Biology Health Physics

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: A Dynamic View of Life

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 Science Connectedbiology, biophysics, cells, dna, proteins, virus

By Florian Celli Florian Celli is a PhD student of biophysics in the Center for Atomic Energy (CEA of Saclay) and the Synchrotron SOLEIL in Paris. He uses nuclear magnetic resonance to study protein dynamics in order to understand their biological role. He co-writes 2 Steps From Science, a website of general science in French and English for students and science fans. Follow on Twitter and Facebook. I am going to talk about architecture, but I am not an architect. I am going to talk about movement, but I am not a dancer. As a…

Astronomy and Astrophysics Biology

Comet Carries Building Blocks of Life

August 10, 2015April 5, 2021 Science Connectedcomets, dna, origins of life, space

Many of us learned in school that comets were lifeless balls of frozen gas and dust hurtling through space. In recent years, however, we have changed the way we think about comets, which are now thought to be the couriers that delivered life to a young Earth. Boosting the courier theory, the European Space Agency’s comet-chaser craft named Rosetta has found complex organic molecules, the building blocks of life, on a comet. These are the exciting initial results of the data analysis using the information returned by Rosetta’s lander, Philae,…