When you think of viruses, you probably think of flu-like symptoms and quarantines. Humankind has suffered from viral diseases ranging from smallpox to COVID-19, hantavirus and Ebola since the dawn of recorded history. However, all living organisms that are susceptible to viral infections, not just humans. In fact, the greatest number and most diverse collection…
Smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been eradicated worldwide. Researchers have now recovered fragments of ancient DNA belonging to variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox, from the naturally mummified remains of two Indigenous people buried in northern Chile. For centuries, smallpox caused devastating epidemics. Its severe form, variola major, killed around…
Over the past 50,000 years, many of the world’s large mammals have gone extinct. Until recent decades, all we knew about them came from fossils. Now, analysis of ancient DNA is adding to the picture. Ancient DNA is damaged and degraded genetic material often obtained from fossils thousands of years old. It’s giving scientists insights…
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has launched a Global Alliance for Human Rights, a broad coalition aimed at placing the issue at the heart of decision-making, when conflict levels have reached a record high amid deepening inequality and accelerating climate change. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk unveiled the initiative in Geneva,…
Local officials said the DNA does not belong to Nancy Guthrie or anyone close to her.
Makuochi OkaforBBC Africa Mohamed Finando / Oxygen Africa Husband and wife movie stars Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors have travelled to Guinea, where they have been granted citizenship after tracing their ancestry to the West African nation through DNA testing. Majors, a star of Creed and Ant-Man, said becoming citizens would allow the couple to…
DNA evidence links the suspect in the assassination of conservative American activist Charlie Kirk last week to the scene of the crime, the director of the FBI has said. DNA from a towel and a screwdriver recovered from the crime scene both match Tyler Robinson, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday. Recommended Stories list…
