News

Stanford science reveals genetically distinct ‘ghost elephants’

Using DNA extracted from dung, researchers discovered that high-altitude elephants in Angola have a unique genetic lineage linked to Namibian elephants, highlighted in a new documentary by Werner Herzog.

Geneticist Anne Brunet explores the science of aging

The professor of genetics breaks down what aging really is, how lifestyle choices influence longevity, and the promising frontiers of aging research.

Mathematical model calculates probability of shared ancestors for African Americans

A study from the lab of Stanford geneticist Noah Rosenberg indicates that two African Americans born in the early 1960s have a probability between 19% and 31% of sharing at least one common ancestor who was forcibly transported to the Western Hemisphere during the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Neurodiversity could be an essential consequence of human evolution

A new study suggests that there may have been evolutionary advantages from changes to genes also associated with autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

Benjamin Good wins APS Early Career Award

Snow leopards’ low genetic diversity puts future at risk

Beyond Darwin: Exploring the evolving science of evolution with Marcus Feldman

Modern science has shown that evolution is far more complex than the passing on of traits through genes. A new book offers fresh perspectives on organisms’ significant variance in

Can captive tigers be part of the effort to save wild populations?

Using DNA from rescued captive tigers in the U.S., Stanford researchers have developed a genetic reference panel that can help identify tigers suitable for conservation and prosecu

Researchers use ancient DNA to map migration during the Roman Empire

The team led by Stanford Medicine analyzed thousands of genomes, including those newly sequenced from 204 skeletons, to gain insight into how and where people moved during the Roma

New study reveals genes that ‘don’t play well together’ in swordtail fish hybrids, driving the development of distinct species

The researchers have identified genes involved in hybrid incompatibility, a phenomenon that raises reproductive barriers between species and evolutionarily splits them apart.

Fungi and future forest health

New research from Stanford suggests climate change will disrupt many age-old partnerships between aspen trees and fungi that are essential to healthy forests.

Prisons are stealth incubators for tuberculosis

Jason Andrews explains why tracking and treating tuberculosis in prisons is critical to combating the disease worldwide.

Stanford Medicine researchers take part in HuBMAP, showing what healthy human tissue looks like

Stanford Medicine scientists describe details of the human intestine and placental tissue as part of the National Institute of Health’s Human Biomolecular Atlas Program.

Insight into African American ancestry

New approach to genetic ancestry developed by Stanford researchers provides estimates of the number of African and European genealogical ancestors in typical family trees.

Cancer’s origin story features predictable plot line, Stanford Medicine researchers find

Human cells evolving in the laboratory undergo a series of predictable, sequential genetic changes that lead to pre-cancer. Blocking these changes may allow intervention before can

New method offers unprecedented detail in tracking protein activity in living cells

Intent on recording the complete journeys of proteins through different areas of cells – or between separate cells – researchers led by Stanford’s Alice Ting have devised a new tag