Explore this timeline to see ... into how wrong many of history's great thinkers were, here's what we know now. A sperm cell and an egg cell each contain half the DNA to make a person.

Back in 1985, the first genetic "fingerprint" was a miracle of science. Today, DNA analysis is standard practice for defining paternity or maternity, predisposition to disease, embryonic health ...

In the first of a two-part special, Adam Rutherford and UCL geneticist Lucy van Dorp explore the last 50-100 thousand years of human evolutionary history, visible in our DNA. Show more Our genomes ...