Science & Publishing

The Conversations in Genetics project, led by former GSA President Rochelle Easton Esposito, has a new in-depth interview of Mary-Claire King by Evan Eichler. As described in the video “Talking with Mary-Claire King,” Dr. King is American Cancer Society Professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her innovative studies of human genetics…

While the science behind the synthetic yeast genome project is cutting edge, the ethical questions surrounding it aren’t new. The scientists of the Sc2.0 project have a goal that sounds akin to science fiction – they’re working toward building a completely synthetic yeast genome. This new strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, affectionately named Sc2.0, will be…

Neurons actively shuttle membranous cargos called “organelles” along microtubule tracks using motor proteins that are essentially molecular engines. The motor proteins literally walk along the tracks, shouldering their cargos. Research published in two back-to-back papers in the September issue of GENETICS reveals a neuron-specific transmission system for regulating one of the motors. The microtubule tracks are…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking applications from exceptional candidates to be the next director of NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM). NLM is the world’s largest biomedical library that maintains and makes available a broad range of print and electronic resources. Current NLM databases include GenBank, PubMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Following from the…

Over the last decade, advances in next-generation sequencing technology have given rise to many findings increasing our understanding of human disease and natural variation within species. Sequencing of the exome, the small fraction of the genome encompassing all exons of protein coding genes, has gained popularity as an inexpensive alternative to sequencing the entire genome.…

Today’s guest post was contributed by Maria Costanzo of Stanford University. She has been a biocurator since before the term was coined and has contributed to genome database projects for a variety of fungi. The views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter: @mariaccostanzo.   When someone asks what I do for a living,…

As ancient humans spread across the globe from their evolutionary birthplace in Africa, they tended to lose a little genetic diversity at each step along the way. New settlements were probably often founded by small groups that carried only a subset of the total diversity present in their homelands. Successive rounds of this “founder effect”…

Check out the September issue of GENETICS! Investigations METHODS, TECHNOLOGY, AND RESOURCES A Male-Specific Genetic Map of the Microcrustacean Daphnia pulex Based on Single-Sperm Whole-Genome Sequencing Xu, Sen, Matthew S. Ackerman, Hongan Long, Lydia Bright, Ken Spitze, Jordan S. Ramsdell, W. Kelley Thomas, and Michael Lynch Abstract|Full Text|Full Text (PDF)|Supporting Information HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLE Computer-Assisted Transgenesis of Caenorhabditis elegans for Deep…

Check out the September issue of G3! Investigations SWEEP: A Tool for Filtering High-Quality SNPs in Polyploid Crops Josh P. Clevenger and Peggy Ozias-Akins G3 September 2015 5:1797-1803; Early Online July 6, 2015, doi:10.1534/g3.115.019703 Abstract | Full Text | Full Text (PDF) | Supporting Information Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of the Cosmopolitan Marine Fungus Corollospora maritima Under Two…

A vast number of species depend on sexual reproduction for survival. Sex facilitates adaptation and rids populations of deleterious mutations. Despite the benefits of this process, sex can be remarkably costly and disrupt already advantageous genetic combinations. Only 20% of fungal species have been observed to reproduce sexually, and a long-standing mystery for researchers is…

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a disorder characterized by chronic respiratory distress that has a history of going undiagnosed. Combined whole-exome sequencing (WES) and copy-number variant (CNV) analysis can aid in diagnosing patients with PCD, according to research published in G3 this month. PCD arises from mutations in cilia-associated genes—and results from the paralysis of…