A new Yale-led study provides one of the most detailed and comprehensive analyses to date of genetic variation in human populations in Oceania, filling a major gap in representation in genomics research. 

Despite harboring remarkable diversity, populations in this vast region in the South Pacific historically have been overlooked in global human genetic studies, which have often focused largely on peoples of European descent, researchers say. 

“The drastic underrepresentation of Oceanians limits our understanding of human evolution and could exacerbate health inequalities as genomic research is used to develop novel medical treatments” said the lead author Serena Tucci, assistant professor of anthropology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the principal investigator of the Yale Human Evolutionary Genomics Laboratory. “To fill that gap, my research team embarked on a large-scale project to expand what is known about human genetic variation, including genetic variants inherited from extinct hominins.”

The study, published on June 11 in the journal Science, shows how the genes that ancient humans acquired after mating with extinct hominins continue to shape the biology, health, and survival of our species today.

Critical Path Institute today announced the appointment of Milad Alucozai, DrPH, MPH, M.Sc., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Alucozai is a longtime leader in the U.S. biotechnology and startup community who has worked as a founder, investor, operator, and community builder, and is the creator of the Bio-Industrial Technology Stack framework, which reframes biology as a geopolitical and industrial asset. A neuroscientist and startup investor, he bridges computational biology, machine learning, and AI-driven drug development. His appointment reflects the organization’s commitment to integrating emerging biotechnology and human-relevant research models into its global mission of accelerating safer, more effective treatments. 

A team of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers has discovered large droplets of proteins known as condensates near inactive chromosome regions within the cell nucleus that are a feature of some cancer cells and may hold clues for better anticancer strategies.

From insects to great apes, by way of birds and fish, animals communicate through an extraordinary variety of sounds. Whilst the pitch or timbre of their vocalisations matters, rhythm may play a more fundamental role. Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the NCCR Evolving Language, the reConnect Institute and the Institut Pasteur analysed more than 2,000 sound recordings produced by 98 animal species. All of them vocalise at a strikingly similar rate — roughly two to three acoustic events per second — regardless of their size, habitat, species or social complexity. This constraint is likely linked to the brain’s capacity to process auditory stimuli, and human language is no exception. The findings are published in PLOS Biology.