WASHINGTON -- The book of genetic instructions for the human body is complete to an accuracy of 99.99 percent, a scientific achievement once deemed impossible but now considered the foundation for a ...

Scientific terminology is intentionally precise: One would not confuse a peptide with a peptidase, or DNA with RNA. Unfortunately, the public has been slow to embrace the word "genome" because of a ...

Wanted: the code that makes people tick. Wait, make that ... Wanted: the code that makes people sick. Spelling matters. A letter can change the meaning of a sentence. And a few letters – in the ...

The differences between human and chimp genomes lie mostly in noncoding DNA, the segments that do not code for a specific protein and that make up about 98% of the genome, according to Pollard.

Around 45 percent of human DNA is made up of transposable elements, or TEs—genetic leftovers from now-extinct viruses that scientists once believed to be “junk DNA.” But that view is changing, and a ...

A genetic change in our ancient ancestors may partly explain why humans don't have tails like monkeys. A genetic change in our ancient ancestors may partly explain why humans don't have tails like ...

A QIMR Berghofer-led international team of scientists has unlocked the genetic secrets behind why some mothers are more likely than others to conceive twins. The study, published in Human Reproduction ...

Tail loss in gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans is believed to have occurred about 25 million years ago, when the group evolved away from Old World monkeys. A genetic change in our ancient ancestors ...