DNA testing

Doctors are studying whether sequencing a newborn's genome has any impact on the child's future health.

Would You Want To Know The Secrets Hidden In Your Baby's Genes?

3:55pm October 31, 2016

by Mary Harris

A study offering the parents of newborns a scan of thousands of the baby's genes raises a big question: Do you want this kind of information on disease risk in your child's permanent record?

Queue Listen Now

Tsar Nicholas II is shown with his family in the 1910s. All were executed shortly after the 1917 Russian Revolution. Remains of the tsar, his wife Alexandra, top right, and their children — Olga, far left, Maria, top left, Anastasia, with arm around Ale

Will DNA Tests Finally Settle Controversy Surrounding Russia's Final Tsars?

1:39pm December 13, 2015

by Corey Flintoff

Tsar Alexander III's remains have been exhumed for DNA tests to confirm the identity of two grandchildren. Historians say the Russian Orthodox Church wants to reaffirm its ties to the imperial family.

A diver swims in a kelp forest in California's Channel Island National Park, where several of the state's marine protected areas are located.

In California's Protected Waters, Counting Fish Without Getting Wet

5:58pm September 08, 2015

by Lauren Sommer

Using divers to monitor whether life is returning to the 100 or so marine protected areas is pricey. Now, advances in DNA sequencing mean scientists just need a seawater sample to do a marine census.

Queue Listen Now

Customs officers in Hong Kong stand guard near several tons of ivory tusks seized during an anti-smuggling operation in 2012. The tusks and other ivory items had been shipped inside two containers from Tanzania and Kenya.

DNA Tracking Of Ivory Helps Biologists Find Poaching Hotspots

5:40pm June 19, 2015

by Christopher Joyce

To stop elephant slaughter in Africa, zoologist Sam Wasser spent years extracting DNA from elephant dung and tissue. Much of the world's poached ivory, he discovered, comes from just two hotspots.

Queue Listen Now

Edwin Hopkins with his mother, Alice, and father, Frank Jr. Hopkins was killed aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, but his remains never were identified.

National

Family Of Unaccounted For USS Oklahoma Sailor Wouldn't 'Let Him Go'

11:14am April 20, 2015

Edwin Hopkins was on the USS Oklahoma when it was attacked in Pearl Harbor, and was one of hundreds buried as an unknown. His family is grateful for the decision to try to ID some of the remains.

Queue Listen Now

Christopher Abernathy (center) is released from the Stateville Correctional Center on Wednesday in Crest Hill, Ill.

National

DNA Evidence Frees Illinois Man Convicted Of Rape, Murder In 1984

10:37pm February 11, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

A judge agreed to vacate Christopher Abernathy's 1987 conviction in the killing of a 15-year-old girl after a request from the prosecutor. Abernathy, now 48, spent nearly 30 years in prison.