Researchers have discovered that the human body’s 3 trillion cells aren’t clones of a single DNA sequence, as is widely believed. Instead, the cells of the human body contain a plethora of altered DNA, called mutations. These multiply to produce patches of tissue, called “somatic clones,” inside the ‘normal’ tissue. The scientific term for this phenomenon is mosaicism.
For centuries biologists have identified new species at a painstakingly slow pace, describing specimens’ physical features and other defining traits, and often trying to fit a species into the tree of life before naming and publishing it. Now, they have begun to determine whether a specimen is likely a novel species in hours—and will soon do so at a cost of pennies. It’s a revolution driven by short stretches of DNA—dubbed barcodes in a nod to the familiar product identifiers—that vary just enough to provide species-distinguishing markers, combined with fast, cheap DNA sequencers.
As massive global effort launches, portable DNA sequencers also allow species identification in the field.
A beautiful abyss. This view of an area within a Jovian jet stream includes a vortex with an intensely dark center. Nearby, other features display bright, high altitude clouds that have puffed up into the sunlight.
I took this color-enhanced image on May 29, 2019, as I performed my 20th science flyby of Jupiter. At the time, I was about 9,200 miles (14,800 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran created this image using data from the JunoCam imager. Details: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/news/jupiter_abyss
