Scientists to Lead DNA Hunt for Loch Ness Monster
An examination of Loch Ness using DNA sampling techniques will try to establish exactly what lives in the UK’s largest freshwater body – it may also discover whether there is any scientific basis to…
Tag Archives: DNA
Fossil Poop Reveals Critical Role of Giant Birds in NZ’S Ecosystem
“When the first humans landed on what is now known as New Zealand 700 years ago, they didn’t find mammals. Instead, they discovered giant birds called moas, as well as a host of other…
Kiwi DNA Study Reveals Bird Lost Colour Vision
Scientists at the University of Leipzig in Germany say they have sequenced the genome of the brown kiwi for the first time, revealing that the shy, flightless bird likely lost its ability to see…
Forensic Software Invention Transforming DNA Gathering
A New Zealand forensic software invention is changing crime scene investigation across the world, meaning that for the first time police can take samples containing DNA profiles of up to four individuals without reference…
Moa Bones Kill Dino DNA Dream
The dream of resuscitating dinosaur species – a la Jurassic Park – has been dealt a death blow in a new study examining the decay rate of DNA in the bones of the extinct…
Long Line Of Macs
New Zealander John McIntosh can trace his family lineage to the inventor of the raincoat, Charles MacKintosh and to John Mackintosh, the inventor of Mackintosh’s Toffee. McIntosh is now following the path of McIntoshes…
Where Do We Come From
A two-year study, called “The longest journey — from Africa to Aotearoa”, could provide a snapshot of the lineage of all human history, according to biological anthropologist Lisa Matisoo-Smith, who is leading the research…
Gene Predictions
University of Auckland researchers have developed the world’s first test to measure the risk for individual smokers and ex-smokers of developing lung cancer with a simple mouth swab, trade named Respiragene. The test combines…
Big Ups for “Small but Perfectly Formed” NZ Fashion Week
The Age calls L’Oreal NZ Fashion Week a thorn in the side of its Australian counterparts, warning that its “peculiarly talented protagonists” are in danger of showing up bigger fish across the Tasman. “Fashion…
A Life Story
NZ scientist Maurice Wilkins is the least recognised of the three discoverers of DNA; a fact which is finally being rectified by this year’s 50th anniversary celebrations. 2003 will also see the release of Wilkins’ long-awaited autobiography,…
“It’s Life James, but Not as We Know It”
Time devotes a special issue to DNA and its discoverers, including NZ born scientist Maurice Wilkins. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize winning and paradigm shifting findings of Crick, Watson, and Wilkins: “The…
Destruction and Creation
Newsday feature on Nobel-winning NZ scientist Maurice Wilkins documents his epoch-breaking career shift from researching weapons of mass destruction to unearthing the secrets of life itself. Horrified at the results of Hiroshima, Wilkins became (and remains)…
Maurice Wilkins
A Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine in 1962 for his contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA – the very essence of life itself – and a New Zealander by…
