Roughly speaking, our bodies use energy from the sun, but we can't use sunlight directly. Instead, plants and algae collect sunlight and store it as chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis. We can access that fuel directly when we eat plants, or indirectly when... click to read more

There is a tremendous interest in the dinosaurs that ruled the Earth during the Mesozoic Era, or the Age of Dinosaurs, but what about our mammalian ancestors that were alive at the same time? Tiny mammals lived amongst the dinosaurs for over 100 million years;... click to read more

Our group together with an international team of scientists successfully recovered and analyzed ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies dating from approximately 1400 BC to 400 AD, establishing ancient Egyptian mummies as a reliable source for genetic material to study the ancient past. The study, published... click to read more

The origin and the evolution of today's diverse populations is a complex process to study and clarify. Nevertheless, the recovery of genetic material from old remains such as bones, the so-called ancient DNA (aDNA), adds a new important source of information. aDNA can provide information on... click to read more

When trying to understand early human migration, timing is everything. We know that humans migrated from the African savannahs through Asia and down into Australia, and this journey is seen as one of our greatest human accomplishments. But we still don't know exactly when we... click to read more