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DNA Study Contradicts Human/Chimp Common Ancestry by Brian Thomas, M.S. | Nov. 15, 2011 Evolutionary biologists argue that since human and chimp DNA are nearly identical, both species must have evolved from a common ancestor. However, creation scientists have pointed out that their DNA is, in fact, very dissimilar. The vast majority of each species' DNA sequence is not genes, but instead regulated gene expression. A new report unmistakably confirmed that the regulatory DNA of humans is totally different from that of chimps, revealing no hint of common ancestry. Biologist John F. McDonald, of the Georgia Institute of Technology's School...

The National Geographic has info, a teaser for an October 26 Nova special: The genetic results add both information and intrigue. From his genes, we now know that the Iceman had brown hair and brown eyes and that he was probably lactose intolerant and thus could not digest milk—somewhat ironic, given theories that he was a shepherd. Not surprisingly, he is more related to people living in southern Europe today than to those in North Africa or the Middle East, with close connections to geographically isolated modern populations in Sardinia, Sicily, and the Iberian Peninsula. The DNA analysis also revealed...

Scientists used the degraded strands to reconstruct the entire genetic code of the deadly bacterium. It is the first time experts have succeeded in drafting the genome of an ancient pathogen, or disease-causing agent. The researchers found that a specific strain of the plague bug Yersinia pestis caused the pandemic that killed 100 million Europeans - between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of the total population - in just five years between 1347 and 1351. They also learned that the strain is the "mother" of all modern bubonic plague bacteria. "Every outbreak across the globe today stems from...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas appeals court on Wednesday formally exonerated a man who spent nearly 25 years in prison for his wife's 1986 fatal beating, reaffirming a judge's decision to set him free last week after DNA tests linked the killing to another man. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared Michael Morton innocent of killing his wife, Christine, and made him eligible to receive $80,000 from the state for each year of confinement, or about $2 million total. Morton, 57, was convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence and sentenced to life in prison. He maintained over...

Scientists identify an RNA molecule as a potential target for new Alzheimer's therapies Göttingen, September 23rd, 2011. Proteins are the molecular machines of the cell. They transport materials, cleave products or transmit signals – and for a long time, they have been a main focus of attention in molecular biology research. In the last two decades, however, another class of critically important molecules has emerged: small RNA molecules, including micro-RNAs. It is now well established that micro-RNAs play a key role in the regulation of cell function."A micro-RNA regulates the production of an estimated 300-400 proteins. This class of molecules...

Italian Court Rules Out New DNA Tests in Knox Case http://video.foxnews.com/v/1147833844001/italian-court-rules-out-new-dna-tests-in-knox-case/

We may not be able to restore any measurable level of confidence in the American economy, but gosh darn it, we might just be able to restore the wooly mammoth. Scientists, having solved all the other ills facing humanity, may be on the verge of making Steven Spielberg’s vision come true, according to CBS news. The very definition of extinct means forever, but what if that didn’t have to be? As Lesley Stahl reported in early 2010, scientists are making remarkable advances that are bringing us closer than ever before to the possibility of a true animal resurrection.Who wouldn’t be...

I am looking for a scene in one of the Star Trek (Next Generation) episodes. The scene has members of the crew going to the Doctor's (I think - maybe another character) room to look for a strand of hair to use to replicate her DNA. She is not on the ship and something has happened to the transporter. I can't remember all the details. I teach forensic science and want to use this for my class. If you know which episode, please let me know. Thanks for any help.

In a book due out Thursday, eminent scholars say it's unlikely that Thomas Jefferson fathered Sally Hemings' children, disputing a decade's worth of conventional wisdom that the author of the Declaration of Independence sired offspring with one of his slaves. The debate has ensnared historians for years, and many thought the issue was settled when DNA testing in the late 1990s confirmed that a Jefferson male fathered Hemings' youngest son, Eston. But, with one lone dissenter, the panel of 13 scholars doubted the claim and said the evidence points instead to Jefferson's brother Randolph as the father.

The New York City medical examiner’s office said on Tuesday that it had identified the remains of Ernest James, 40, a victim of the World Trade Center attack. The remains were identified “within the last few days” through DNA testing, said Ellen S. Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office. She declined to disclose more specifics about what type of remains were tested. Mr. James, who worked for the professional services company Marsh & McLennan, was one of nearly 300 members of the firm who died on Sept. 11, 2001. In addition, more than 60 consultants working with the firm that...

Doctors have treated only three leukemia patients, but the sensational results from a single shot could be one of the most significant advances in cancer research in decades. And it almost never happened. In the research published Wednesday, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania say the treatment made the most common type of leukemia completely disappear in two of the patients and reduced it by 70 percent in the third. In each of the patients as much as five pounds of cancerous tissue completely melted away in a few weeks, and a year later it is still gone

Up to 70 percent of British men and half of all Western European men are related to the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, geneticists in Switzerland said. Scientists at Zurich-based DNA genealogy centre, iGENEA, reconstructed the DNA profile of the boy Pharaoh, who ascended the throne at the age of nine, his father Akhenaten and grandfather Amenhotep III, based on a film that was made for the Discovery Channel. The results showed that King Tut belonged to a genetic profile group, known as haplogroup R1b1a2, to which more than 50 percent of all men in Western Europe belong, indicating that they share...

Experts are asking people from north-east Wales to provide a DNA sample to discover why those from the area carry rare genetic make-up. So far, 500 people have taken part in the study which shows 30% of men carry an unusual type of Y chromosome, compared to 1% of men elsewhere the UK. Common in Mediterranean men, it was initially thought to suggest Bronze Age migrants 4,000 years ago. Sheffield University scientists explain the study at Wrexham Science Festival. 'Quite extraordinary' A team of scientists, led by Dr Andy Grierson and Dr Robert Johnston, from the University of Sheffield is...

A new report published in the journal Nature describes the new machine created by Jonathan Rothberg of Ion Torrent Systems which uses semiconductors to decode DNA and takes them one step closer to being able to reach the goal of a $1000 human genome test. Their current machine consists of a silicon chip that has 1.2 million sensors consisting of miniature wells. These wells are filled with beads containing the DNA strands to be sequenced. Detectors in the well directly measure the hydrogen ions that are produced during DNA replication. Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, was the first to have...

I recently did the whole mixed-breed dog DNA testing shebang on Alice, using three of the most popular tests available: Wisdom Panel, BioPet and Canine Heritage. And while her results were, um...mixed, it was definitely a fun and interesting process. (More on this experience in a post next week.) Like me, most people test their mixed-breed dogs simply out of curiosity. Many mutts come from shelters and rescue groups where, although workers and volunteers do their best, a lot of background information isn't often available at the time of adoption. DNA tests can often shed light on our dog's ancestors,...

First direct whole-genome measure of human mutation predicts 60 new mutations in each of usEach one of us receives approximately 60 new mutations in our genome from our parents. This striking value is reported in the first-ever direct measure of new mutations coming from mother and father in whole human genomes published today. For the first time, researchers have been able to answer the questions: how many new mutations does a child have and did most of them come from mum or dad? The researchers measured directly the numbers of mutations in two families, using whole genome sequences from the...

Scientists aiming their gene sequencers at commercial seafood are discovering rampant labeling fraud in supermarket coolers and restaurant tables: cheap fish is often substituted for expensive fillets, and overfished species are passed off as fish whose numbers are plentiful. Yellowtail stands in for mahi-mahi. Nile perch is labeled as shark, and tilapia may be the Meryl Streep of seafood, capable of playing almost any role. Recent studies by researchers in North America and Europe harnessing the new techniques have consistently found that 20 to 25 percent of the seafood products they check are fraudulently identified, fish geneticists say. Labeling regulation...

FBI wants DNA from Unabomber for Tylenol deaths probeCTV.ca News Staff Date: Fri. May. 20 2011 8:22 AM ET The FBI won't say why it wants to obtain a DNA sample from Ted Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, after his name surfaced in a decades-long investigation into a series of U.S. deaths from tampered Tylenol packages. Kaczynski has been behind bars for more than a decade, after being captured and convicted of a series of mail bomb attacks that killed three Americans and injured 24 others. Those attacks began in the late 1970s and continued until Kaczynski's capture in 1996. Now...

California's success in using 'familial searching' spurs Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris to increase funding for the controversial genetic sleuthing technique in rape, murder and cold cases. A young man followed a woman into a coffee shop as she prepared to open for business at 6 a.m. He put a knife to her throat, sexually assaulted her, barricaded her in a walk-in refrigerator and grabbed cash from the register before vanishing. The March 2008 attack near the Santa Cruz Harbor in a low-crime neighborhood unnerved the community and spawned an intense police hunt. "It is the kind of attack that communities...

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told the AP that more than one DNA sample was used to identify bin Laden. One problem – whose DNA did they compare it to? According to several reports, U.S. intelligence experts have been collecting DNA from Osama’s many relatives for years. Hospital officials in Boston have been unable to confirm reports that one source of DNA was bin Laden’s half-sister, who allegedly died of brain cancer at a Harvard-affiliated hospital. Bin Laden had plenty of half-brothers and half-sisters to offer DNA samples. He was the 17th child of Mohammed...