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Articles tagged Fundamental Research
(127 results)
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In the Year of the Rooster, a new chicken genome assembly is hatched
The chicken is one of humanity’s closest and oldest allies. With a worldwide population in the billions, this former jungle fowl is one of the most important domesticated animals on Earth. In the February issue of G3, Warren et al. further our understanding of this familiar bird, presenting a new and substantially improved chicken genome assembly…
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Beyond stressed-out: the hypoxic response
Deep within a tumor, sequestered from an adequate blood supply, a cancer cell grows and multiplies. Far beneath Earth’s surface, a microbe lives and thrives in similarly low-oxygen conditions. Generally, oxygen depletion causes serious distress to aerobic organisms—what allows these life forms to survive? The cellular response to hypoxia is massive. Hypoxia alters the expression…
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Pathogenic yeast uniquely resists toxicity of aggregation-prone proteins
Misfolded proteins can be so toxic that they cause cell death. At least nine neurodegenerative disorders are caused by misfolded proteins with expanded stretches of glutamine residues (polyQ tracts), including the invariably fatal Huntington’s disease. But some organisms are resistant to the harmful effects of these proteins. In the January issue of G3, Leach et…
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Enhancer-promoter distance is a potent modulator of gene expression
To boost transcription of a target gene, enhancer sequences must make contact with the gene’s promoter. This crucial meeting is mediated by interacting proteins and the formation of chromatin loops that bring distant enhancers and promoters together. Although it’s clear that enhancers increase transcription this way, the primary mechanisms by which an enhancer’s target genes…
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Fly model of traumatic brain injury untangles factors tied to mortality
Each year, emergency departments in the US treat almost 700,000 people for traumatic brain injury (TBI). The outcome depends largely on the severity and location of the injury, but these aren’t the only factors. Age also plays a role, with children often recovering more fully than do adults. The patient’s diet following the injury may…
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New schizophrenia risk genes found by computational analysis
Symptoms of schizophrenia most commonly begin to creep up in young adulthood. Although genetics play a major role in this complex disorder, narrowing down the search for the genes involved has proven frustratingly difficult. Risk loci identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may contain several genes, making it unclear which of these contribute to pathology.…
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Dog pedigrees shed light on recombination
Recombination within the genome isn’t random. This swapping of DNA segments between one chromosome and its homolog preferentially affects specific genome regions called hotspots. These regions can have recombination rates many times higher than other areas of the genome, and the rapid shuffling of genetic information is thought to be important in evolution. The location…
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Cold-loving fungi fight frostbite, but can’t take the heat
To the unaided eye, Antarctic soil and alpine glaciers may appear to be barren wastelands devoid of life. But some microbes call hostile habitats like these home. Research on one such organism, published in the latest issue of G3, reveals some of the mechanisms behind cold adaptation—and explains why these otherwise hardy creatures can’t survive…
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As we face uncertainty, let’s stand together
Given the outcome of the US presidential election, some of our members have asked us if they should fear an erosion of federal support for research funding. Others have asked more pointed questions, such as: What is the GSA doing to defend the interests of geneticists? Young scientists, they’ve told us, are now even more…
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Policy Points: Collins reports model organism funding at TAGC16
Last week at The Allied Genetics Conference (TAGC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins provided an overview of model organism support from his agency. Collins used a new analysis performed by NIH staff to address concerns expressed by many of the model organism researchers gathered at TAGC, particularly a 2015 analysis by Michael…
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Two-faced protein both speeds and slows cell cycle
Although some proteins have a single career, many—like Dis3—lead a double life. In the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, loss-of-function mutations in dis3 cause defects in mitosis, implying that Dis3 normally supports cell cycle progression. But perplexingly, results in humans suggest that Dis3 normally slows cell cycle progression: mutations that partially disable dis3 contribute to the development…