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Poisoned peanuts: insights into aflatoxin susceptibility
Expression analysis provides clues about what makes some peanut strains more susceptible to fungal toxin contamination. In 1960, 100,000 turkeys across hundreds of English poultry farms died from aflatoxin contamination in the peanut meal in their feed. Aflatoxin is a potent carcinogen produced by fungi of the genus Aspergillus, which can grow on peanuts. Although…
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Colleen Cuffaro on the journey from bench to business
As a Principal at venture capital firm Canaan, Colleen Cuffaro works to identify biopharmaceutical companies that have the next big idea in drug development. In the Decoding Life series, we talk to geneticists with diverse career paths, tracing the many directions possible after research training. This series is brought to you by the GSA Early Career Scientist Career…
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Early Career Leadership Spotlight — Dina Beeler
We’re taking time over the following weeks to get to know the members of the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Committees. Join us every week to learn more about our early career scientist advocates. Dina Beeler Career Development Subcommittee University of Illinois at Chicago Research Interest The creativity and curiosity of my…
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How similar are fruit fly and human cancers?
New evidence for genome instability in fly tumors suggests key similarities—and differences—from human disease processes. Human cancers display a variety of abnormal genomic features, including increased numbers of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and copy number variants (CNVs). However, a 2014 study on a fruit fly tumor detected no elevation of SNVs or CNVs compared to non-tumor…
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Fowl play: the genetics of chicken sociability
A new study reveals genetic changes that affect social behavior in chickens. We have a number of phrases that relate human behavior to that of chickens; for example, when you accuse someone of acting “chicken,” you’re likely calling them a coward. If someone is running around like a chicken with their head cut off, they’re…
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Which is more powerful: genetic or epigenetic variation?
Although epigenetic modifications contribute to trait variability, their effect pales in comparison to standing genetic variation. The raw material of evolution is genetic variation, but proponents of the “extended evolutionary synthesis” add a new layer to this model: heritable variation in epigenetics. The packaging and tagging of DNA can alter traits without changing the DNA…
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Early Career Leadership Spotlight — Carla Bautista Rodriguez
We’re taking time over the following weeks to get to know the members of the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Committees. Join us every week to learn more about our early career scientist advocates. Carla Bautista Rodriguez Communication and Outreach Subcommittee Université Laval Research Interest Until relatively recently, the thought of extraterrestrial…
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ModERN treasure: hundreds of worm and fly transcription factor binding profiles cataloged
Offshoot of the modENCODE project provides crucial data and strains for understanding gene regulation. Following a multidisciplinary effort spanning six institutions, researchers working on the modERN (model organism Encyclopedia of Regulatory Networks) project have released a powerful resource for biologists studying the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. So far, report Kudron,…
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#PEQG18 in Haiku
Attendees of the Population, Evolutionary, and Quantitative Genetics Conference are a creative bunch. Inspired by one of the PEQG Bingo challenges, they bombarded Twitter with more than 50 #PEQG18 haikus (and one limerick), providing poetic snippets of the meeting to those who couldn’t make it. Joining the 17-syllable summaries were fantastic sketch notes of the meeting by…
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Abha Ahuja on teaching with impact
Abha Ahuja, Assistant Professor at education startup Minerva Schools, finds that her identity as a woman of Indian origin in STEM helps her relate to her diverse students. Her postdoctoral training prepared her to design active learning courses on a new technology platform. In the Decoding Life series, we talk to geneticists with diverse career paths, tracing…
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Mito-nuclear interactions could influence disease variability
A new fruit fly model of Leigh syndrome reveals the importance of mtDNA variation. Inherited mitochondrial disorders pose a perplexing problem to researchers and clinicians: people with the same condition can have vastly different clinical manifestations, even if they share the same mutation. For example, a neurodegenerative disorder called Leigh syndrome, which can be caused…