DNA

People may unsuspectingly choose friends who have some DNA sequences in common with them, a new analysis finds.

Researchers compared gene variations between nearly 2,000 people who were not biologically related, and found that friends had more gene variations in common than strangers.

The study lends a possible scientific backing for the well-worn clichés, "We're just like family," or "Friends are the family you choose," the researchers said.

"Humans are unique in that we create long-term connections with people of our species," said Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist at Yale University involved in the study. "Why do we do that? Why do we make friends? Not only that, we prefer the company of people we resemble."

he most complete sequence to date of the Neanderthal genome, using DNA extracted from a woman's toe bone that dates back 50,000 years, reveals a long history of interbreeding among at least four different types of early humans living in Europe and Asia at that time, according to UC Berkeley scientists.

The genetic material DNA can survive a flight through space and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere -- and still pass on genetic information. A team of scientists from UZH obtained these astonishing results during an experiment on the TEXUS-49 research rocket mission.

less a home is tricked out with security cameras or police can find clear evidence, if a burglar breaks in, there's no way of knowing whodunit. Even if a victim sees the perpetrator and sits down with a sketch artist, memory can be faulty or biased—just ask the countless black men who've "fit the description."

A group of Penn State University researchers have developed a technological solution that uses the one part of us that never lies: DNA. Led by anthropologist Mark Shriver, the research team has created computer software that generates a 3-D facial model. All it needs is something—a hair, a fingernail, or saliva—with your genetic code.

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