#Genetics

On-demand DNA for every branch of life. Mother Nature is perhaps the most powerful generative “intelligence.” With just four genetic letters—A, T, C, and G—she has crafted the dazzling variety of life on Earth. Can generative AI expand on her work? A new algorithm, Evo 2, trained on

A new study swapped DNA letters inside mitochondria, paving the way for new gene therapies. The energy factories in our cells contain their own genes, and genetic mutations in them can cause deadly inherited diseases. These oblong-shaped organelles, or mitochondria, translate genes into

Scientists are grappling with the implications of a CRISPR-baby world. Bring up germline editing, and most scientists cringe. The idea behind the notorious CRISPR-baby scandal, editing reproductive cells or embryos tinkers with DNA far beyond just the patient—any changes, either beneficial or

Thousands of new genes are hidden inside the “dark matter” of our genome. Previously thought to be noise left over from evolution, a new study found that some of these tiny DNA snippets can make miniproteins—potentially opening a new universe of treatments, from vaccines to immunotherapies for

Hunter-gatherers took shelter from the ice age in Southwestern Europe, but were replaced on the Italian peninsula according to two new studies, published in Nature and Nature Ecology & Evolution today. Modern humans first began to spread across Eurasia approximately 45,000 years ago, arriving