genomics
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Scientists Dive Into Axolotl Genome, Looking for Secrets to Regeneration
Its adorableness aside, the Mexican axolotl is a salamander of particular interest to scientists. On the molecular level, the animal seems to have a cheat code for life: It can regenerate its limbs and vital organs, an ability researchers are desperate to better understand for medical applications.
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Artificial Human Genomes Could Help Overcome Research Privacy Concerns
It can be difficult to distinguish a flesh-and-blood human’s face from one generated by artificial intelligence. (Telltale signs are misshapen eyes under spectacles, non-dermatological blemishes on the skin, and hair that looks as if it’s been thatched atop the head, though your experience may differ). But what about when those impostors are more than skin…
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Odd Skull In Museum Finally Confirmed As A Narhwal-Beluga Hybrid
Back in 1990, subsistence hunters in Greenland gave a skull to scientists. Its origin, they explained, was a strange creature, evenly grey, with flippers like a beluga but a tail like a narwhal. The specimen was larger than either a beluga or a narwhal’s skull, but seemed to contain the proportions of both.
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Experts Say Recent ‘Alien’ Mummy Study Was Deeply Flawed And Unethical
Earlier this year, scientists from Stanford University concluded that a strange skeleton known as the Atacama Mummy belonged to a human girl whose physical malformations were the result of several severe genetic mutations. A team of international experts is now questioning these findings, and accusing the scientists of breaching standard research ethics.