Science & Publishing

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…

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…

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,…

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…

Photosensitive alternative splicing of a malt fly circadian clock gene varies between northern and southern populations. Over the course of a day, most organisms undergo profound changes. Over the course of a season, the changes can be even more dramatic. For example, insects’ responses to the brisk nights and cooler days of fall and winter…

The “hyperspin” long-range enhancer deletion recapitulates disease phenotypes. In recent years, improvements in genetic testing have made it much easier to discover the causes of rare genetic diseases, but sequence data can also present new puzzles. Take split hand/-foot malformation-1 syndrome (SHFM1), which causes limb deformities, such as joined fingers, and sometimes deafness. Candidate culprits…

Yeast study suggests faulty proofreading is not to blame for link between cancer and DNA polymerase ε variants. Accurate DNA replication is a matter of life and death. The polymerases responsible for replicating DNA have built-in safeguards to defend genome integrity, including proofreading activities to correct their own errors. Abnormally error-prone variants of DNA polymerase…

The Y chromosome has an unanticipated role in sex-biased intron retention in Drosophila. Differences between males and females in sexually dimorphic species stem in part from disparities in gene expression. This sex-biased expression can be achieved through numerous means, one of which is alternative splicing. In a recent study, Wang et al. investigated differences in one…

Crop properties improved by point mutation in microRNA binding domain of Q gene. Humans have been cultivating wheat for ten thousand years, transforming it from an unruly grass into a useful crop highly adapted to our needs. But even after millennia, there are still new avenues for improving this staple food. A new type of…

Biolistic genetic transformation in C. neoformans produces few off-target side effects. While genome editing is a staple of genetics research, there remains anxiety about unintended side effects of genetic transformation, one of the most common longstanding genome-editing techniques. Some researchers fear that the process of introducing exogenous DNA into a cell may cause unwanted mutations,…

A reanalysis of genes tied to life span in mice reveals only a select few affect aging. Like it or not, you are always getting older. The mechanisms responsible for this fact of life, non-negotiable as it is, remain poorly understood. To identify genes that drive the aging process, researchers typically look for those that…