Genetics

About nine million years ago, a hybridization involving the lineage of another farmers market star gave rise to the modern-day cultivated potato

A genomics firm saying they can help parents with “genetic optimization” of their embryos is tone-deaf Silicon Valley marketing trampling over legitimate science. Parents should be wary

This AI system can analyze up to one million DNA letters at once, predicting how tiny changes in noncoding regions trigger everything from cancer to rare genetic disorders—and potentially revolutionizing personalized medicine

Autism has at least four subtypes, an analysis of more than 5,000 children’s genes, traits and developmental trajectories has shown

The Haenyeo, an all-female group of divers on South Korea’s Jeju Island, spend much of their lives underwater without equipment—a “superpower” that may be written into their DNA

Reducing the copies of one gene in the bubonic plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, made it less deadly but potentially more transmissible

The bankruptcy of 23andMe highlights a lack of protections for genetic privacy in the U.S.

Women with African ancestry have often been left out of breast cancer studies. Now scientists are catching up

Humans have a surprising lack of hair for mammals. Biological anthropology may provide insights into why the hair we have sometimes comes out curly.

DNA inherited from Neandertals may influence modern human cognition

Think twice before giving direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits to friends and loved ones

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us