Researchers have significantly expanded the catalogue of known human genetic variation. The resulting datasets, shared in two back-to-back publications in the journal Nature, constitute what may be ...

A centromere is a specific region on a chromosome that ensures that, when a cell divides, the chromosome separates accurately so each new cell receives the correct amount of genetic material. Despite ...

Completed in 2003, the Human Genome Project gave us the first sequence of the human genome, albeit based on DNA from a small handful of people. Building upon its success, the 1000 Genomes Project was ...

When a wound does not heal properly, it leaves a scar. Similarly, mutations—which are permanent changes to genetic code—are ...

Scientists have discovered that a gene called MUC19, inherited from Denisovans through ancient interbreeding, may have played a vital role in helping Indigenous ancestors adapt as they migrated into ...

In 2001 scientists studying human language made a breakthrough: by looking at the DNA of a family with a rare speech disability, they found that a mutation in a single gene called FOXP2 were ...