With animal fossils hard to come by, the researchers extracted environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, from soil samples. This is the genetic material that organisms shed into their surroundings — for example, through hair, waste, spit or decomposing carcasses.
DNA
There's a new way to measure age that might prove helpful in assessing an individual's risk of developing cancer, according to a recent Northwestern University study. Learn about epigenetic age and how it can impact your health.
This month in Nature, an international team of researchers released some of their key findings after a first-of-its-kind study of the genome of the California two-spot octopus. The team found a massive and unusually arranged genome, with many genes unique to the octopus that could provide clues to the unusual animals. One of the researchers, University of Chicago neurobiologist Cliff Ragsdale, joins Chicago Tonight to discuss the ongoing project.
Sea Slugs, Virtual Therapy, LGBT Suicide
Our science guy, Neil Shubin, joins us to talk about sea slug brains, a therapist app for your smartphone and more in Scientific Chicago.
