Human genomes
When I started out as a genetics student the big goal everyone was talking about was understanding “The Genome” – that monolithic set of DNA bases that make us human. Of course, there is no such...
View ArticleSome updates
Some new developments in stories that have appeared in these pages: My support for the Bellbird in the annual Bird of Year poll was not enough for it raise above a mid-table finish. In a fit of...
View ArticleNucleotide diversity – what two new African genomes mean
If you wanted evidence that we live in a post-genomic age you would need to look no further than the headlines in the science section of the newspaper last week. A man dubbed Inuk who lived and died...
View ArticleLiving up to our name
Homo sapiens means “wise man”. Sometimes it’s hard to think that Linnaeus was right in honouring our species with that name. We’re the reason the earth is going through its sixth great extinction;...
View ArticleIf some of us have Neanderthal genes, are Neanderthals us?
I got a little bit starry eyed writing about the Neanderthal genome the other day. I chose to retrace the arc of scientific progress that links the initial description of Neanderthal man as something...
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