DNA

Scientists have successfully extracted DNA from insects trapped in amber – but any creatures you might revive from this would hail from the not-so-distant past of 2014. The study aims to work backwards to find the limits of DNA preservation.

Engineers have developed a simple way to make colloidal diamonds that self-assemble. These structures have traditionally been tricky to manufacture in bulk, but with this new method they could be used to help make better photonic devices.

It can be hard to determine if an animal is extinct or just really good at hiding. A new study shows how environmental DNA can help the hunt, with several missing frog species rediscovered in Brazil, including one that hasn’t been seen in 50 years.

As if they don't already face enough challenges from bleaching, many of the world's coral reefs are currently being eaten by the crown-of-thorns starfish. A simple new portable test kit, however, could detect their presence sooner than ever before.

New research suggests violent or traumatic experiences in childhood can accelerate biological signs of aging. Early puberty, rapid cellular aging, and structural brain changes could all be linked to violent childhood trauma, but not poverty or neglect.

It’s generally believed that the Clovis people were the first humans to inhabit the Americas, as long as 15,000 years ago. But now archaeologists have found evidence in a cave in Mexico that suggests humans visited as early as 30,000 years ago.

A new cancer-detecting blood test has been found to catch five common types of cancer up to four years before any other conventional diagnostic tool, but further verification is needed before the test is clinically available.

In a landmark new study, geneticists have completely sequenced the entire human X chromosome. Using a new technique that takes "ultra-long" reads of DNA sequences, the team revealed more than three million base pairs that were previously unmapped.

An archaeological conundrum may have been solved by DNA analyses carried out by a team of Stanford Medicine scientists led by Alexander Ioannidis that indicates Native Americans and Polynesians came into contact centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans.

New research suggests a person’s lifespan could be predicted at a young age by measuring the volume of genetic mutations they accumulate, raising the prospect of developing medical interventions so people could live and stay healthy much longer.

Just one gram of DNA can store 215 million GBs of data. Artificial DNA data storage systems could soon become more practical, thanks to a new technology named DORIS that can read and write files at room temperature without damaging the DNA.

A new study is demonstrating how ancient animal DNA, extracted from Dead Sea Scroll parchments, can help with piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of disparate fragments of the ancient manuscripts found in the Judean desert.