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Early Career Scientist Leadership Spotlight — Aleeza Gerstein
We’re taking time over the following weeks to get to know the participants in the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Leadership Program. Join us every week to learn more about our early career scientist advocates. Aleeza Gerstein Liaison, Communication & Outreach Subcommittee University of Minnesota Research Interest: My research is driven…
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An overactive immune system alters the gut microbiome in Drosophila
Taking probiotics might be the latest health fad, but for people with inflammatory bowel diseases, the microbiome is a more serious matter. With these autoimmune diseases, the composition of the gut microbiome can have critical health consequences. In the June issue of GENETICS, Mistry et al. use fruit flies to determine whether immune system activity…
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#Worm17 love
Every two years, the GSA is proud to support the C. elegans research community as they come together to share their science and their infectious enthusiasm. Last week, the 21st International C. elegans Conference enjoyed beautiful Los Angeles weather and an abundance of cutting-edge biology. For those missing their worm friends already, and for those who couldn’t make it…
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Undergraduate Travel Award Winners — 21st International C. elegans Conference
To promote excellence in undergraduate research and education, the Genetics Society of America has established a travel award to assist undergraduate members attending a GSA conference and presenting their research. We’re proud to announce the winners of the Undergraduate Travel Award who will be attending the 21st International C. elegans Conference, which is being held at UCLA this week. These…
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The mouse lemur: a new genetic model organism
Palm fronds crunch under a researcher’s foot as she hikes through a rainforest in Madagascar looking for a spot to release a tiny, omnivorous ball of fur with bulging eyes—a mouse lemur. This creature, the smallest type of primate, is an important research subject: it has just yielded a blood sample, skin cells, and an…
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Housekeeping genes escape miRNA repression through alternative polyadenylation
Changing where the polyA tail is added to an mRNA transcript can fine-tune the tissue-specific expression of many genes, reports a Caenorhabditis elegans study published in the June issue of GENETICS. Blazie et al. show alternative polyadenylation (APA) allows transcripts to evade microRNA (miRNA) silencing in some tissues, allowing for tissue-specific expression of those genes.…
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Early Career Scientist Leadership Spotlight — Heath Blackmon
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. Heath Blackmon Trainee Advisory Representative, Board of Directors University of Minnesota Research Interest: The development of separate…
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Fido won’t fetch? Maybe it’s his pedigree
Whether a thunderclap drives your dog to cower behind the couch or leaves it unfazed may be determined in part by genetics. In the June issue of GENETICS, Ilska et al. analyze genetic contributors to canine personality traits—such as fear of loud noises—using owners’ reports of their pets’ behavior. The researchers chose this survey-based method…
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Behind the cover: Male infertility in the mouse Collaborative Cross
Fascinating discoveries sometimes emerge from the most daunting of experimental roadblocks. Designed to generate over 1,000 recombinant inbred mice lines for genetic mapping, the Collaborative Cross (CC) project unearthed astounding variation in male fertility when nearly 95% of the highly inbred CC lines went extinct. As part of the Multiparental Populations series in the June…
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Sarah Bay Joins the GSA as Journals Assistant Editor and Programs Manager
The Genetics Society of America and the GSA Journals are excited to announce that former science writing intern Sarah Bay has joined the Society as the Journals Assistant Editor & GSA Programs Manager. Sarah has had a passion for both science and writing since her undergraduate days at Harding University, where she earned degrees in…
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New in G3: multiparental populations, worm fat levels, and mutant screen reports
Check out the June issue of G3! Table of Contents Editorial Back to the Future: Multiparent Populations Provide the Key to Unlocking the Genetic Basis of Complex Traits Dirk-Jan de Koning, Lauren M. McIntyre G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics June 2017 7: 1617-1618; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.117.042846 Commentary Epistasis: Searching for Interacting Genetic Variants Using Crosses Ian M.…