You might think I’m writing a check with that headline these blogg’n finger can’t cash. If so, you would be wrong! There really is such a report out and vaginas are not the only things being grown in vitro, or outside of the body, whatever the terminology might be. [Read more…]
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An endogenous retrovirus or ERV is a genetic scar produced by a failed viral infection. Geneticists can tell its of viral origin because it will contain base pairs associated exclusively with viruses. If the ERV happens to insert in a portion of a cell genome that goes onto contribute to an egg or sperm that creates a new person, and if that same stretch of DNA containing the ERV is part if an allele that ultimately gets selected for widely, eventually the entire population will share it. If the population then splits over time, both descendant groups will have it in the same place. If you and a stranger have a unique ERV occupying the exact same segment in both your respective genomes, it is powerful evidence you are closely related.
Humans and chimps share a number of ERVs, which is more than just a smoking gun that we share a relatively recent common ancestor, it’s a video tape of evolution pulling the trigger. So it was with great interest that a new study comparing ERVs in anatomically modern humans to Neandertal DNA as well as poorly understood contemporary referred to as Denisovans has been released: [Read more…]
There’s an interesting post up here about a reporter who managed to get whooping cough, or Pertussis as its formerly called. Pertussis was once barely heard from, but it’s on the rise again in the US because of the anti-vax movement. But there’s more to this post, a lot more. First and excerpt: [Read more…]
Everyone wants to live a long time, preferably forever. Much of human art and most all of religion is based on that anxiety. So Google is on the case! [Read more…]
Lake Vostok has been buried under two miles of ice for 15 million years, but scientists can now say life has found a way to persist and thrive there. Pristine samples from the lake were examined and found to contain genetic signatures for thousands of species. Some sequences suggest more complex animals like worms or even fish may be lurking in the pitch black, sub-glacial water. Scientists say this has ramifications far beyond Antarctica: [Read more…]
Two men with HIV are now free of the virus after a bone marrow transplant to treat lymphoma. But how that happened is a mystery for now. [Read more…]
You know that vaccine for human papillomavirus that conservatives fought tooth and nail against and continue to do so? The one Rick Perry waffled on and that Michelle Bachmann claimed caused retardation in last year’s GOP clown show? Surprise, surprise, it’s working: [Read more…]
Scientists successfully retrieved the first samples from a buried lake in Antarctica today. Initial reports are there’s already some fossil gold in hand: [Read more…]