What Is Your Horror Story From DNA Tests Like 23andMe?
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Widely used DNA sequencer still doesn’t enforce Secure Boot
In 2012, an industry-wide coalition of hardware and software makers adopted Secure Boot to protect Windows devices against the threat of malware that could infect the BIOS and, later, its predecessor the UEFI, the firmware that loaded the operating system each time a computer booted up. Firmware-dwelling malware raises the specter of malware that infects […]
Foreign DNA ‘sneaks’ past bacterial defenses, aiding antibiotic resistance
Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07994-w A new study by Tel Aviv University reveals how bacterial defense mechanisms can be neutralized, enabling the efficient transfer of genetic material between bacteria. The researchers believe this discovery could pave the way for developing tools to address the antibiotic resistance crisis and promote more effective genetic manipulation methods for […]
Can a New DNA Database Help Save This Incredible Sea Turtle?
By Alex Fox Photograph by Shane Gross Hawksbill sea turtles happily flap through the world’s tropical oceans with bellies full of glass-like fragments. Researchers examining the turtles’ digestive tracts would be wise to take care not to slice their hands on shards of the mineral silica that form the skeletons of sea sponges, a mainstay […]
Bubonic plague discovered in ancient Egyptian mummy DNA
Although the bubonic plague is most often associated with its deadly impact on 14th century Europe, traces of Yersinia pestis have also been found in skeletons found in modern-day Russia dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. Thanks to recent analysis, however, researchers believe they have confirmed the first known plague case outside Eurasia: […]
Syphilis originated in the Americas, ancient DNA shows, but European colonialism spread it widely
The outbreak of a mysterious disease ravaged Europe in the late 15th century, shortly after Christopher Columbus and his crew returned from the Americas. Experts have debated for centuries where this malady — now known as syphilis — originated. Now, new research into ancient genomes has finally provided an answer: It turns out, syphilis came […]
Studies pin down exactly when humans and Neanderthals swapped DNA
In a second study, Arev Sümer (also of the Max Planck Institute) and her colleagues found something very similar in the genomes of people who lived 49,500 to 41,000 years ago in what’s now the area around Ranis, Germany. The Ranis population, based on how their genomes compare to other ancient and modern people, seem […]
She took a DNA test for fun. Police used it to charge her grandmother with murder in a cold case
It was the middle of Jenna Gerwatowski’s workday at the local flower shop in Newberry, Michigan, when she got a call from an unknown number. The now 23-year-old doesn’t usually answer unknown calls, but says she decided to pick this one up in May 2022. To her surprise, it was a detective from the Michigan […]
Ancient DNA data hold insights into past organisms and ecosystems — handle them with more care
DNA fragments extracted from archaeological human remains can be sequenced to identify the microorganisms that caused disease.Credit: Microgen/Getty Over the past ten years or so, investigations of degraded or ‘ancient’ DNA have skyrocketed. By extracting DNA fragments from diverse sources —from human teeth and faeces to soil samples and ice cores — researchers have uncovered […]
DNA samples among new leads in UnitedHealthcare manhunt: What to know
Authorities have collected DNA evidence in their hunt for the suspect in the midtown Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The suspect has so far evaded capture, two days following Thompson’s death in what has been described by police as a premeditated attack. On Friday, officials said DNA evidence linked to the crime has…