Human genetic engineering has always been the stuff of science-fiction novels and blockbuster Hollywood films. Except that it is no longer confined to books and movies. Scientists and doctors are ...

Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe. Using advanced analysis based ...

Ancient humans crossing the Bering Strait into the Americas carried more than tools and determination—they also carried a genetic legacy from Denisovans, an extinct human relative. A new study reveals ...

In a giant feat of genetic engineering, scientists have created bacteria that make proteins in a radically different way than all natural species do. By Carl Zimmer At the heart of all life is a code.

Almost 100 years ago, Carrie Buck was raped, labeled an “imbecile,” and sterilized by order of the state — all in the name of genetic progress. Today, we no longer use that word, but the dream of ...

A new Yale study provides a fuller picture of the genetic changes that shaped the evolution of the human brain, and how the process differed from the evolution of chimpanzees. For the study, published ...

Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe. Modern humans descended from ...

The original evolution of hominins (modern humans and their evolutionary ancestors since the split with other great apes) took place in Africa about 7 million years ago, based on the fossil record.

Most science fiction, even the really dark stuff, lets humanity keep a little bit of its dignity. The planet might blow up. The robots might turn on us. But somewhere in there, we're still us. Still ...