To Shakespeare’s Hamlet we humans are “the paragon of animals”. But recent advances in genetics are suggesting that humans are far from being evolution’s greatest achievement. For example, humans have ...

The images above depict artificially-derived neurons grown in petri dishes, with a human neuron shown on the left. Artificially-derived chimpanzee neurons grow only one or two neurites (connecting ...

Scientists have pinpointed precise regions in the human genome where DNA is most likely to develop a mutation. At spots where RNA polymerase 'opens' your DNA to read and copy instructions – known as ...

Scientists first read the human genome, a three-billion-letter biological book, in April 2003. Since then, researchers have steadily advanced the ability to write DNA, moving far beyond single-gene ...

Translocations, in genetics, happen when chromosomes break and the pieces attach to other chromosomes. This mixing of genetic material has important results. The resultant chromosomes are lacking in ...