A bear leaving its calling card.
An animal's poop may seem like something to avoid, but it's full of information about the creature that left it there.
DNA database giant Ancestry lets members access international records including the convict and free settler lists, passenger lists, Australian and New Zealand electoral rolls and military records.
A US judge has allowed police access to the major DNA database without users' consent (including Australian users). It's a timely reminder that we urgently need genetic privacy legislation.
Sennedjem and Iineferti in the Fields of Iar, 1295–1213BC.
Charles K. Wilkinson/Met Museum of Art
What ancient crop genomes can tell us about our history.
Where has this Zambian lion been?
Male lions are responsible for the movement of genes between prides. New research confirmed that the genes are traveling long distances – even though no one has been spotting the lions on the journey.
Scientists are left with two conclusions. Either Nessie is an eel, or she never existed at all.
Current plans for lunar exploration may end up destroying ancient, genetic samples from Earth that have ended up on the moon.
Advances in DNA sequencing will help people to learn more about their ancestry.
Developments in mitochondrial DNA sequencing are returning South Africa's slavery heritage to view.
Doctors and nurses will collect vital evidence and arrange care with understanding and compassion at a traumatic time.
What happens during a forensic medical examination? And if you've been sexually assaulted, what can you expect?
Ethical frameworks, rules, laws: all try to have their say.
CRISPR technology could have momentous effects if it's used to edit genes that will be inherited by future generations. Researchers and ethicists continue to weigh appropriate guidelines.
Forensic anthropologists, who analyse skeletal remains, can give us clues to how someone lived and died.
While forensic scientists mostly use fingerprints, dental records and DNA to identify human remains, they have many other techniques in their forensic toolkit. How many have you heard of?
Changes in our environment can reveal previously hidden mutations in our DNA with potentially good and bad consequences.
The ancestral population of modern humans appears to have split as it moved across Asia.
New research outlines how the ancestors of modern humans interbred with several archaic human groups on the passage from Africa to Australia.
The metaphors we use when we talk about gene editing shape public perception of the complexity involved.
The idea of CRISPR as scissors ignores an entire ecosystem of moving parts that are crucial for understanding the awe-inspiring, crazy thing scientists are trying to do when they attempt gene editing.
What a good boy.
Having different coloured eyes is quite unusual, but it happens in many species throughout the animal kingdom.
If you’ve got the raw data, why not mine it for more info?
New research investigated who uses the wide array of tools available to people who've received their own raw genetic data and want to maximize what they learn from it.
Decoding all the DNA in a patient’s biological sample can reveal whether an infectious microbe is causing the disease.
Superfast DNA analysis is now being used to crack medical mysteries when physicians can't figure out whether an infectious microbe is causing the disease.
When it comes to reproduction, couple have more choices than ever before.
A ban on clinical trials involving gene editing rules out the controversial procedure done in China. But it also prevents procedures that could offer couples a chance for healthy children without genetic disorders.
Home DNA testing has made it easy and affordable for millions of people to learn about their ancestry. Now, police are using this genetic information to identify suspects in unsolved crimes.
Despite privacy concerns over police use of DNA uploaded to ancestry websites, many people are just excited that their genetic material could get a killer off the streets.
Spider glue is actually a specialized silk protein.
The glue that gives spider webs their stickiness is a form of spider silk protein. Researchers can imagine cool uses for a synthetic version – but had to wait for the tricky glue gene to be sequenced.
Screening millions of healthy people for their risk of disease can be cost-effective. But it raises ethical and regulatory concerns.
As DNA testing becomes cheaper, it becomes more feasible to screen large numbers of healthy people for their risk of disease.