Couples in future can choose their partners based on the compatibility of their genes instead of just settling for someone or falling in love, say scientists. Scientists believe that since the cost of genetic sequencing is falling so rapidly, within five to ten years it will be very common for young people to pay for a read-out of their entire genetic code and choose a compatible partner.
The desire to have healthy babies will also lead people to request and see the genetic blueprint of any prospective long-term partner, Professor Armand Leroi, a leading scientist at Imperial College London said. Based on the information gathered from the genetic blueprint, the couple could then use In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to weed out babies with incurable diseases.
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Tyre-shaped prehistoric turtle found
Washington: Palaeontolo-gists have unearthed what they believe is the fossil of a giant turtle that lived some 60 million-years-ago in what is now northwestern South America.
The fossil turtle, with a huge tire-like carapace or shell, was discovered in Colombia’s La Puente pit in the Cerrejón Coal Mine, which is famous for its other treasures, including the world’s largest snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis.
Researchers have earlier found from the pit fossils of two crocodile species, Cerrejonisuchus improcerus and Acherontisuc-hus guajiraensis, as well as two turtle species, the Carbonemys cofrinii and the Cerrejonemys wayuunaiki. Named Puentemys mushaisaensis after the pit where it was found, the turtle, whose shell would have extended five feet across, adds to growing evidence that tropical reptiles ballooned after the dinosaurs were wiped out. — PTI