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World's oldest DNA: Scientists discover 2-million-year-old remains of plants and animals

Genetic material from the elephant relative mastodon, cedar and spruce has now been discovered in a warmer Greenland of yore. It is the oldest DNA ever found.

This is how DNA analysis has been revolutionized over the last decade

A number of technological advances enable forensic geneticists to detect tiny amounts of biological material that a perpetrator has left at a crime scene.

Nanocarriers are the Trojan horses of antibiotics

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: There is a new kid in town. He is a nanocarrier loaded with antibiotics, and he can trick bacterial biofilms into opening its strongly guarded gates for him. Antibiotic resistant bacteria better beware.

The Norwegian Consumer Council warns that Norwegian DNA is being sent to China

An increasing number of pregnant Norwegian women take extended foetal diagnostic tests in Denmark. One of the tests is analysed in China, and DNA from both the mother and foetus may end up with the Chinese authorities.

World's oldest tree still growing near the Norwegian-Swedish border

The nearly 10 000-year-old spruce tree is only five metres tall, but it began to grow just after the last ice age ended.

Twenty years of sequencing genes… for better or for worse

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: It’s been 20 years since the first draft sequence of the human genome was published in the journals Nature and Science. Sequencing 30 000 genes has changed the world, but in a different way than expected.

A Norwegian's discovery paved the way for the coronavirus tests we use today

But the Nobel Prize went to an American who figured out how the discovery could be used.

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is now legal for all pregnant women in Norway. But how does it actually work?

How can a mother's blood test reveal a chromosome defect in the foetus? Knowing how the test works also makes it easier to understand why it doesn't always give an accurate result.

Obesity genes lowered metabolism

Half of the population has genes that can prevent the body from burning calories. When Norwegian researchers knocked out these genes in mice, the mice became extremely thin, even though they ate as much as their rodent brethren.

RNA: Scientists have discovered a new layer in the genetic code of life

Our cells contain a previously unknown layer of information. This layer facilitates a whole new level of regulation that might make us more adaptable. Or sick, when the system fails. Welcome to the new world of epitranscriptomics.

If your father was overweight during puberty, your risk of developing asthma doubles

If a father is overweight during his adolescence, his future children have a more than doubled risk of having asthma, a large generational study shows.

Scientists have found 10 000-year-old Scandinavian genes in prehistoric gum

These small lumps of pitch were chewed 10 000 years ago by people living in what is now Sweden. But who were these people?

The twins from Tynset and the mystery disease

Everything seemed fine with the twins from Tynset — until they gradually lost their vision and the ability to walk. After 50 years, doctors and scientists have finally solved their medical mystery.

How to track down your ancestry with DNA

Many can follow their ancestry as far back as 2,000 years.

DNA evidence is not always foolproof

DNA testing has become more and more precise, and tests can now be conducted on tiny bits of material from the crime scene. But DNA testing has its —mostly human—weaknesses.

Genetic tests uncover lethal legacy — at a price

It’s become ever easier to test for mutations that increase a woman’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer. But what kind of psychological burden does the test impose on women who take it?

What can genetic testing tell us?

You can now order personal genetic tests online for under USD 200. But can they tell you if your child will be a whiz at school or a soccer star?

Orkney Islanders are 25 percent Norwegian

Over 1,000 years after the Vikings arrived, native Orkney Islanders are still genetically a quarter Norwegian.

Smoking causes damage to the Y chromosome

New research may explain why smoking causes several types of cancer in men.

Reindeer genes show clear influence from last Ice Age

The genes of modern reindeer help scientists understand how past climates affected the species - and give clues as to how reindeer will handle future climate change.

The brain’s little helper

A tiny protein has a caretaker’s role for our major organ, the brain. What happens to us if the protein is absent?

Tracking the cuckoo's nest

Squatting in other birds' nests and kicking out legitimate chicks might not give the cuckoo any prize for 'best house guest', but as the only brood parasite in Northern Europe it is a good indicator for the current state of affairs for several bird species.

The secret life of the sea

The ocean is teeming with tiny, exquisite creatures that have concealed themselves in certain ways from scientists. Now, 200 years after the organisms were discovered, Norwegian researchers have started to clear up mysteries from the DNA of radiolarians.