SciShow
Did Neanderthals Make You A Morning Person?
We've known for a while now that Neanderthals and humans interbred and swapped genes. But do you know what traits you have that came from your Neanderthal cousins? From early rising to immune boosting, here are a few traits that you may...
Crash Course
Bacterial DNA & Genetics: Crash Course Biology #38
Bacteria often get a bad rap, but they’re some of our best partners in science and medicine! In this episode, we’ll explore what bacteria are doing with their DNA — including how they can trade it around. We’ll learn about chromosomes...
Crash Course
How Genes Express Themselves: Crash Course Biology #36
If nearly all your cells have the same DNA, why are muscle cells so different from skin cells? In this episode, we’ll learn how gene expression is regulated in eukaryotes, and how methylating DNA, modifying histones, and messing with...
Crash Course
Intro to Genetics: Why Your Cat Looks Like That: Crash Course Biology #31
How do traits get passed down in our DNA? And what do genes have to do with cat fur? In this episode of Crash Course Biology, we’ll untangle the simplest patterns of inheritance, and reassure our redheaded friends—you’re not going anywhere.
Crash Course
Microevolution: What's An Allele Got to Do With It?: Crash Course Biology #12
Whether we’re talking about tigers, trees, or tarantulas, evolution happens at the level of the population. In this episode of Crash Course Biology, we’ll find out how natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift, and other processes...
Crash Course
Bioinformatics: How Data Saves Lives: Crash Course Biology #40
On its own, a huge DNA sequence is a meaningless pile of data — so, how do biologists figure out what it means? They turn to the power of bioinformatics! In this episode, we’ll learn what bioinformatics is, how it works, and how...
SciShow
The First CRISPR Gene Therapy Is Here
CRISPR is a powerful gene editing tool, but its uses have been purely scientific until now. In 2023, US and UK drug regulators including the FDA approved Casgevy, a CRISPR/Cas9-based therapy for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia....
SciShow
I’m A Genetic Engineer. I’m Also a Fish.
Horizontal gene transfer might not be the flashiest of names, but animals are using it to create genetic hybrids without a human in sight. Like frogs rocking the DNA snippets of snakes, and fish sharing antifreeze superpowers.
SciShow
The 3 Species That Break Genetics
Scientists have discovered a group of three closely related flowers that seem to break the laws of genetics. These mountain beardtongues are pollinated by either bees or butterflies, but not both, and that's the key to an incredibly...
SciShow
We May Be Able To Grow Human Organs In Animals. Should We?
Seventeen people in the US die /every day/ waiting for an organ transplant, usually a kidney. One approach is to grow extra kidneys in pigs, an idea known as xenotransplantation. We'll look at two recent milestones, as well as the...
SciShow
This Simple Test Could Detect Half of All Cancers
Cancer is a complicated disease, and there's no simple blood test for early detection and screening to spot cancer in general. That might be changing thanks to LINE-1, a retrotransposon gene that doesn't do anything.
SciShow
The OTHER Genome Project That’s Transforming Medicine
You've heard of the Human Genome Project, and how having all that info about our genes could help us treat /tons/ of diseases. But a newer project wants to zoom out a little and use different genetic information to help us solve our...
SciShow
Have an Autoimmune Disease? Blame the Black Death
The bubonic plague killed so many people in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa that that natural selection event is still rippling through our genomes today. But the same genes that helped your ancestors survive the Black Death...
Amoeba Sisters
Genetic Engineering
Explore an intro to genetic engineering with The Amoeba Sisters. This video provides a general definition, introduces some biotechnology tools that can be used in genetic engineering, and discusses some related vocabulary (such as...
PBS
When We Met Other Human Species
We all belong to the only group of hominins on the planet today. But we weren’t always alone. 100,000 years ago, Eurasia was home to other hominin species, some of which we know our ancestors met, and spent some quality time with.
PBS
When Ancient People Changed Their Own DNA
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PBS
We Can “Bring Back” The Woolly Mammoth. Should We?
In the quest to understand how evolution basically built the woolly mammoth, we may have found the blueprints for building them ourselves.
PBS
The Genes We Lost Along the Way
Our DNA holds thousands of dead genes and we’ve only just begun to unravel their stories. But one thing is already clear: we’re not just defined by the genes that we’ve gained over the course of our evolution, but also by the genes that...
PBS
How Dogs (Eventually) Became Our Best Friends
We’re still figuring out the details, but most scientists agree that it took thousands of years of interactions to develop our deep bond with dogs. When did they first become domesticated? Where did this happen? And what did the process...
PBS
The Island of the Last Surviving Mammoths
The Wrangel Island mammoths would end up being the final survivors of a once-widespread genus. In their final years, after having thrived in many parts of the world for millions of years, the very last mammoths that ever lived...
PBS
Gene study links Africans to higher risk of Parkinson’s
One million Americans live with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive condition that causes problems with body movement. New research has identified a genetic variant that increases the risk of Parkinson’s in people of African descent, and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How dangerous was it to be a jester? | Beatrice K. Otto
Contrary to common belief, jesters weren't just a medieval European phenomenon but flourished in other times and cultures. The first reliably recorded jester is thought to be You Shi, of 7th century BCE China. Jesters had unique...
TED Talks
TED: CRISPR's next advance is bigger than you think | Jennifer Doudna
You've probably heard of CRISPR, the revolutionary technology that allows us to edit the DNA in living organisms. Biochemist and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Jennifer Doudna earned the Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking work in this...
SciShow
Does COVID Mess With Your DNA?
As more and more are infected with COVID-19, there's a growing group of people who have what's called Long COVID, meaning they still have symptoms for weeks or months after getting sick. While we still don't know for sure the cause of...