dna
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How Hackers Could Trick Unwitting Scientists Into Producing Dangerous Genes
In a new letter to the editor pulled from the prestigious scientific journal Nature, a team of Israeli researchers pose a frankly wild-sounding question: could a computer hack result in a scientist being swindled into creating a piece of genetic code that’s harmful — or potentially toxic — rather than helpful?
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Monumental DNA Study Reveals Secrets of North American Mastodons
A new paper published today offers surprising insight into the American mastodon and its reactions to a changing environment. This stocky megafauna — whose tusks, trunk and four legs echo today’s elephant — is thought to have lived predominantly within forests and marshy environments throughout ancient North America before its extinction approximately 11,000 years ago.
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New 23andMe Study Reveals the Genetic Legacy of Slavery in the Americas
New research looks to provide a fuller retelling of the tragic, brutal past that was the transatlantic slave trade. Based on genetic analysis of over 50,000 people, the study reaffirms other historical evidence of how different groups of people in Africa were forcibly taken from their homes, as well as how those populations contributed to…
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How Did I Get My Own Unique Set Of Fingerprints?
Fingerprints are those little ridges on the tips of your fingers. They’re essentially folds of the outer layer of skin, the epidermis. The “prints” themselves are the patterns of skin oils or dirt these ridges leave behind on a surface you’ve touched.