Cyanobacteria—ancient microbes that oxygenated Earth and made complex life possible—are still revealing surprises billions of ...

The work demonstrates the power of ancient DNA to illuminate human biology and medicine in addition to history. A massive ...

Learn more about new research that analyzed 16,000 ancient genomes and discovered that natural selection hasn’t slowed down.

Over the past 10,000 years, evolution in West Eurasia has been selecting for light skin, red hair and resistance to HIV and ...

Ancient DNA reveals how farming accelerated human evolution, driving genetic changes over the past 10,000 years.

Scientists who analysed nearly 16,000 ancient remains suggest red hair and fair skin is favoured for vitamin D production ...

For years, the story of recent human evolution looked relatively quiet. Scientists studying ancient human DNA had found only ...

The human genome is made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes, the biological blueprints that make humans … well, human. But it turns out that some of our DNA — about 8% — are the remnants of ancient viruses ...

The idea that modern humans inherited DNA from Neanderthal ancestors is one of the 21st century’s most celebrated discoveries ...

Data from more than 15,000 ancient people reveal natural selection of hundreds of genes linked to immunity, skin tone, ...

Hidden within fish DNA are powerful genetic twists that may explain one of nature’s biggest mysteries: how new species form so quickly. In Lake Malawi, hundreds of cichlid fish species evolved at ...