15 guanacos were taken to a remote Falklands island in the 1930s; their descendants kept their genetic diversity through two severe population crashes

15 guanacos were taken to a remote Falklands island in the 1930s; their descendants kept their genetic diversity through two severe population crashes

In the late 1930s, a small group of guanacos, native South American camelids, was shipped from southern Patagonia to Staats Island, a remote, treeless Falklands island. Only fifteen animals founded the entire herd. Roughly twenty-five years later, a cull reduced it from about 300 animals to between 10 and 20. Such a herd would be … Read more

All known life uses 4 DNA letters; UC San Diego showed an existing bacterial enzyme can accurately read and transcribe 8, doubling the genetic alphabet with synthetic letters

All known life uses 4 DNA letters; UC San Diego showed an existing bacterial enzyme can accurately read and transcribe 8, doubling the genetic alphabet with synthetic letters

Representative image of DNA All life on Earth, from bacteria to blue whales, writes its genetic instructions using the same four-letter alphabet. These four DNA bases, usually referred to as A, T, C and G, pair up in predictable ways to store and pass on the information needed for life. Now, researchers at UC San … Read more