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Research into grape pips found from an excavated Byzantine monastery in Israel hints at the origins of the ‘mysterious’ Gaza wine and the history of grapevine cultivation in desert conditions. The pips from settlements in Israel’s Negev desert - one of which was dated to the 8th century - were likely from a white grape, and is potentially the earliest of its kind documented anywhere in the world. It is thought it could be linked to the sweet white wine - the Gaza wine - that archaeologists have seen references to in historical records, but a lack of evidence of...

US scientists have, for the first time, made early-stage human embryos by manipulating DNA taken from people's skin cells and then fertilising it with sperm.The technique could overcome infertility due to old age or disease, by using almost any cell in the body as the starting point for life.It could even allow same-sex couples to have a genetically related child.The method requires significant refinement - which could take a decade - before a fertility clinic could even consider using it.Experts said it was an impressive breakthrough, but there needed to be an open discussion with the public about what science...

Scientists claim to have found evidence of alien genetic manipulation in human DNA, with large sections of genes seemingly 'inserted' into people, potentially affecting millions of humans. If confirmed, the discovery could fundamentally alter our understanding of human evolution and the future of the human race, said lead researcher Dr Max Rempel, the founder and chief executive of the DNA Resonance Research Foundation. The study, which has not yet undergone peer review, analyzed DNA from both ordinary people and self-reported alien abductees. In an examination of 581 complete families from the 1,000 Genomes Project, Rempel found 'large sequences' of DNA...

By KGThanks to advanced DNA technology, law enforcement has solved a 12-year-old case. Authorities now say the unidentified human remains -- discovered more than a decade ago -- belong to Velma Louise Silva Lee of Napa. Lee was born in 1936 and had been missing for years. Advanced DNA technology opened the door and shed light on a case that has stumped investigators for more than a decade. The mystery surrounding a human skull found in Redding 12 years ago has finally been solved. The family of Lee now has some answers. "This person's name was finally realized after many,...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The murder of Tina Heins has been solved after more than three decades, State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced Thursday. Michael Shane Ziegler, a close friend of Heins’ Navy sailor husband, is now charged with the sexual assault and murder of the 20-year-old, who was four months pregnant when she was stabbed 27 times in her Mayport apartment in 1994. Nelson said Ziegler evaded justice for more than three decades -- allowing another man to be wrongfully imprisoned for the crime for nearly 14 years. ...

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office in Arizona discovered the sisters alive and well in California through DNA, and now it wants justice for whoever killed their mother.Two California sisters missing for 36 years were found alive and well in their home state with the help of familial DNA, authorities investigating their case in Arizona said. When they were discovered in August, Jasmin and Elizabeth Ramos were living under new names given by foster parents who raised them in Ventura County, California, unaware of their missing status. Now authorities want to find the killer of their mother, Marina Ramos of Bakersfield,...

Saskatoon police say they have solved a mystery that goes back more than a century. The remains of an unknown female were discovered in a well shaft in Saskatoon's Sutherland neighbourhood in 2006. Now, almost 20 years later, she has been identified as Alice Spence (nee Burke), a woman of Irish ancestry who was about 35 years old at the time of her death. Investigators believe Alice, who lived in what was the town of Sutherland at the time, died of foul play sometime from 1916 to 1918. -snip The case sat for nearly 20 years without a lead until...

After decades of dead ends, Austin, Texas, police on Friday named deceased serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers as the suspect in the city’s infamous yogurt shop murders. The announcement follows decades without answers in the December 1991 killings of four teenage girls—Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, and sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison—at the “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” shop in Austin. The girls, aged 13, 15, and 17, were bound, gagged, and shot, before the shop was set on fire. The breakthrough comes with notable advancements in forensic DNA testing and renewed attention from an HBO docuseries about the case. Not...

AUSTIN, Texas — More than three decades after four teen girls were found dead inside a burned-down yogurt shop in North Austin, investigators say they finally know who killed them. Law enforcement sources confirmed to KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski that the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders have been solved using genetic genealogy technology. The perpetrator has been identified as American serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers, who died by suicide in 1999. Brashers’s DNA profile has previously been connected with a 1990 murder in Greenville, South Carolina; the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old in Memphis; and the 1998 double murder of...

The Altamaha bass has light gold scales with olive margins, darker brown blotches on their sides and orange on the edges of their fins. Credit: Special ============================================================================ Bartram’s and Altamaha bass, first identified in the 1980s, are now officially recognized as distinct species. Researchers at the University of Georgia have formally identified two previously unrecognized species of black bass in a newly published study: Bartram’s bass and Altamaha bass. Though descriptions of the two species are new, sightings of the fish are not. Ecologist Bud Freeman first encountered Micropterus pucpuggy, now known as Bartram’s bass, in the 1980s. A couple...

You’ve probably heard of spooky black cats, chaotic orange cats, and distinguished-looking tuxedo cats. If you’re really into cats, you might have even lesser-known color variants like seal point and ticked tabby. But there’s officially a new cat color in town— salmiak, or ‘salty liquorice.’ You can see one here. The pretty black, white, and grey shade—named for a popular snack food in Finland, where this coat color has been making itself known—is thanks to a fur strand that starts off black near the root, but grows whiter and whiter out towards the tip. The coat was first spotted in...

Despite being a staple food for millions of people worldwide, the genetic secrets of the sweet potato have long remained a mystery to scientists. That is, until now. New research has revealed the complexities behind the genetic makeup of these tubers, widely considered to be a superfood for their health benefits. What science reveals about them is surprising, revealing a previously unknown evolutionary history involving a “hybrid ancestry” behind the beloved vegetables. The research, led by Professor Zhangjun Fei at the Boyce Thompson Institute, was recently published in Nature Plants. The Hybrid Ancestry of Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes carry six...

MOSCOW (AP) -- It was an Ice Age squirrel's treasure chamber, a burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years. From the fruit tissues, a team of Russian scientists managed to resurrect an entire plant in a pioneering experiment that paves the way for the revival of other species. The Silene stenophylla is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated, the researchers said, and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds. The experiment proves that permafrost serves as a natural depository for ancient life forms, said the Russian researchers,...

WASHINGTON - Hunters may not be to blame for the decline in bison populations, according to a new study that points the finger at climate change. Scientists had thought bison were hunted to the brink of extinction when people first crossed an ice-free bridge between what's now Alaska and Siberia. Two subspecies of bison now live in North America. Now researchers say bison DNA shows their genetic diversity began to decline more than 20,000 years before humans reached eastern Beringia in what is now North America, according to archeological evidence.Scientists at Oxford University analysed DNA samples from 442 fossils from...

THE modern gentleman may prefer blondes. But new research has found that it was cavemen who were the first to be lured by flaxen locks. According to the study, north European women evolved blonde hair and blue eyes at the end of the Ice Age to make them stand out from their rivals at a time of fierce competition for scarce males. The study argues that blond hair originated in the region because of food shortages 10,000-11,000 years ago. Until then, humans had the dark brown hair and dark eyes that still dominate in the rest of the world. Almost...

BODIES of extinct Ice Age mammals, such as woolly mammoths, that have been frozen in permafrost for thousands of years may contain viable sperm that could be used to bring them back from the dead, scientists said yesterday. Research has indicated that mammalian sperm can survive being frozen for much longer than was previously thought, suggesting that it could potentially be recovered from species that have died out. Several well-preserved mammoth carcasses have been found in the permafrost of Siberia, and scientists estimate that there could be millions more. Last year a Canadian team demonstrated that it was possible to...

BODIES of extinct Ice Age mammals, such as woolly mammoths, that have been frozen in permafrost for thousands of years may contain viable sperm that could be used to bring them back from the dead, scientists said yesterday. Research has indicated that mammalian sperm can survive being frozen for much longer than was previously thought, suggesting that it could potentially be recovered from species that have died out. Several well-preserved mammoth carcasses have been found in the permafrost of Siberia, and scientists estimate that there could be millions more. Last year a Canadian team demonstrated that it was possible to...

Ice Age Imprint Found On Cod DNA ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2007) — An international team of researchers, led by the University of Sheffield, has demonstrated how Atlantic cod responded to past natural climate extremes. The new research could help in determining cods vulnerability to future global warming.Atlantic cod. Professor Bigg of the University of Sheffield said: "This research shows that cod populations have been able to survive in periods of extreme climatic change, demonstrating a considerable resilience. However this does not necessarily mean that cod will show the same resilience to the effects of future climatic changes due to global...

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prince Hisahito is the first male royal to reach adulthood in 40 years. Many people in Japan worry he could be the last.The elaborate palace rituals to formally recognize Hisahito as an adult on Saturday are a reminder of the bleak outlook for the world’s oldest monarchy. Much of this comes down to its male-only succession policy and dwindling numbers.Hisahito is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne and is likely to become emperor one day. After him, however, there is nobody left, leaving the Imperial family with a dilemma over whether they should reverse a...

The world's first pandemic, known as the Plague of Justinian after the sitting Byzantine emperor, killed an estimated 25 to 100 million people between a.d. 541 and 750... historical sources from the period suggest that it may have begun around Pelusium, Egypt, before spreading rapidly throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean world. According to a statement released by the University of South Florida (USF), researchers participated in an interdisciplinary study that has uncovered -- for the first time -- direct genomic evidence pinpointing the bacterium Yersinia pestis as the cause of the plague. The team sequenced genetic material from...