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The fates of ice age human groups in Europe were closely linked to climate change, according to an unprecedented study of the genomes of 51 individuals who lived between 45,000 years ago (when modern humans arrived in Europe) and 7,000 years ago. "We see multiple, huge movements of people displacing previous ones," David Reich of the Harvard Medical School said. "During this first four-fifths of modern human history in Europe, history is just as complicated as it is during the last fifth that we know so much more about." 

crowdsource encyclopedia of all living things

DNA from a man who lived in Ethiopia about 4,500 years ago is prompting scientists to rethink the history of human migration in Africa. Until now, the conventional wisdom had been that the first groups of modern humans left Africa roughly 70,000 years ago, stopping in the Middle East en route to Europe, Asia and beyond. Then about 3,000 years ago, a group of farmers from the Middle East and present-day Turkey came back to the Horn of Africa (probably bringing crops like wheat, barley and lentils with them).

n Wednesday, it happened again. Yohannes Haile-Selassie of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and his colleagues reported finding a jaw in Ethiopia that belonged to an ancient human relative that lived some time between 3.3 and 3.5 million years. They argue that the jaw belongs to an entirely new species, which they dubbed Australopithecus deyiremeda.

New immune system-boosting cancer drugs have in clinical trials saved the lives of many people with seemingly untreatable melanoma or lung cancer, but the drugs seem useless against colon cancer. One exception-a man with colon cancer whose metastatic tumors vanished for several years after he was treated in 2007-piqued researchers' interest. They suspected his recovery might have to do with the large number of mutations in his tumors. Now, a small clinical trial suggests that even cancer patients with types of tumors that were thought to be impervious to the new drugs could benefit if those malignancies have the right error-riddled DNA signature, a result that could help 3% to 4% of cancer patients.

Cell Biology and Cancer-developed with the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-is a creative, inquiry-based instruction program, designed to promote active learning and stimulate student interest in medical topics. This curriculum supplement will: Deepen students' awareness of the importance of basic research to advances in medicine and health Foster students' abilities to think critically Help students understand the effects of scientific discoveries on their own lives Encourage students to take more responsibility for their own health

Nitrogen is one of the primary nutrients critical for the survival of all living organisms. Although nitrogen is very abundant in the atmosphere, it is largely inaccessible in this form to most organisms. This article explores how nitrogen becomes available to organisms and what changes in nitrogen levels as a result of human activity means to local and global ecosystems.

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW examines the realm of personal DNA testing. It describes the latest tests, which look for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These single-letter differences in DNA sequence make humans unique from one another but may also predispose people to certain diseases. The video also discusses the Personal Genome Project, an extension of the Human Genome Project aimed at determining the root causes of many common diseases. The Personal Genome Project takes into account personal genomics as well as lifestyle information, such as one's living environment, habits, and behaviors.

The agricultural revolution was one of the most profound events in human history, leading to the rise of modern civilization. Now, in the first study of its kind, an international team of scientists has found that after agriculture arrived in Europe 8,500 years ago, people's DNA underwent widespread changes, altering their height, digestion, immune system and skin color. Researchers had found indirect clues of some of these alterations by studying the genomes of living Europeans. But the new study, they said, makes it possible to see the changes as they occurred over thousands of years.

I'm sure you've probably heard of at least a few invasive species. Maybe you've heard of the Cane Toad. It's one of the classic introductions of invasive species gone wrong. It was introduced to eat pests in cane fields and then turned into a plague of epic proportions in Northern Australia. But here is the question. Now that these species are here, is it worth fighting their spread, or should we spend time and effort on other things. It's worth asking, and not just for the ethical implications. We live in a modern world and I think there is a real financial element to this as well. See if you can follow my logic through this video short. Do you agree with my thoughts? Should we keep fighting? Do you have any personal experience with an invasive species?

This interrupted case study for the flipped classroom introduces the human microbiome from the perspective of one of its occupants, Heidi Helicobacter (Helicobacter pylori).  Heidi lives in the gut of Kristen, a college student, and discusses her fellow microbial inhabitants, functions of these various microbes, and alludes to factors that can disrupt the healthy human microbiome. Students prepare for class by viewing several brief videos and then discuss in class whether Kristen should undergo a fecal microbiota transplant to treat her Clostridium difficile infection.  A lab component has students model, using colored beads, how antibiotics can act as a selective agent for drug-resistant microbes such as C. difficile. The case concludes with Kristen about to give birth to a new baby several years later.  Students listen in as Kristen's microbes discuss the formation of the new baby's microbiome. The case has been used successfully in a general biology class and could easily be adapted for a microbiology, human physiology, ecology, or evolution course.

But if Gánti's theories had been more widely known during the communist era, he might now be acclaimed as one of the most innovative biologists of the 20th century. That's because he devised a model of the simplest possible living organism, which he called the chemoton, that points to an exciting explanation for how life on Earth began.

Five distinct humpback whale populations have been identified across the North Pacific Ocean in the most comprehensive genetic study of the mammals in this region yet, a new study reports.

Inthis lesson students will enter the world of the genome, learning about humanhistory and evolution by examining information about human, Neanderthal, andchimpanzee DNA. Using web interactives and videosfrom The Human Spark, studentswill be introduced to the ambitious Human Genome Project, learn about thegenetic similarities and differences between human beings and our hominidancestors, explore how specific genes manifest themselves in differentorganisms, and discover how genetic information can help us trace a path ofhuman migration all the way back to our earliest ancestors.

Residents of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific have some of the darkest skin seen outside of Africa. They also have the highest occurrence of blond hair seen in any population outside of Europe. Now, researchers have found the single gene that explains these fair tresses.

This lesson, using segments from the PBS series Faces of America, explores the various types of genetic information contained in the human genome. The Introductory Activity examines the structure and composition of chromosomes and DNA, and can be used as a review or introduction to the topic. Following that, students will participate in a hands-on activity reviewing basic Mendelian genetics and the difference between genotype and phenotype. Students will also learn about different ways of tracing ancestry through DNA, and apply that to patterns of human migration and genetic population sets known as haplogroups. In the Culminating Activity, students will develop methods for determining the genetic heritage of their class, school, or community.