genetics
pharyngula | April 14, 2008
I'm busy preparing my lecture for genetics this morning, in which I'm going to be talking about some chromosomal disorders … and I noticed that this summary of Fragile-X syndrome that was on the old site hadn't made it over here yet. A lot of the science stuff here actually gets used in my lectures, so they represent a kind of scattered online notes, so I figured I'd better put this one where I can find it.
I haven't even finished grading the last of the developmental biology papers, and already my brain is swiveling towards the genetics literature, as I get in the right frame of mind to…
razib | April 13, 2008David Burbridge continues his awesome series of posts on the history of evolutionary genetic thought with Notes on Sewall Wright: the Measurement of Kinship. Here's a taste:
In Malecot's system two genes at the same locus, in the same or different individuals, are defined as Identical by Descent (IBD) if they are both descended from the very same individual ancestral gene, without either of them undergoing mutation in the interim. The relatedness between two individuals can be measured, roughly speaking, by calculating the probability that two genes at the same locus in the two individuals…
razib | April 11, 2008A few months ago I blogged a paper, Individual differences in allocation of funds in the dictator game associated with length of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor RS3 promoter region and correlation between RS3 length and hippocampal mRNA. Now these results have hit the press with really wack titles. Jake at Pure Pedantry and Joseph at Corpus Callosum offer the appropriate scientific caution. Caution is warranted, but I think the next decade at the intersection of behavioral economics & genetics is going to be very big. Papers such as Heritability of ultimatum game responder…
razib | April 10, 2008Ancient DNA: Reconstruction Of The Biological History Of A Human Society:
A research team has reconstructed the history of the evolution of human population and answered questions about history, using DNA extracted from skeleton remains. Knowing the history of past populations and answering unresolved questions about them is highly interesting, more so when the information is obtained from the extraction of genetic material from historical remains. An example is the necropolis at Aldaieta (Araba) where some of these mysteries about these peoples have been answered - thanks to the study of…
razib | April 10, 2008Speciation with gene flow could be common:
The likelihood of speciation in the face of homogenizing gene flow (i.e. without complete geographical isolation) is one of the most debated topics in evolutionary biology. Demonstrating this phenonemon is hampered by the difficulty of isolating the effects of time since population divergence vs. gene flow on levels of molecular genetic differentiation. For example, weak genetic differentiation between taxa could be due to recent divergence, gene flow, or a combination of these factors. Nonetheless, a number of convincing examples of speciation with…
sporte | April 9, 2008You can find out. Blaine Bettinger, the Genetic Genealogist has a fun little quiz.
razib | April 7, 2008Three papers on genome wide association studies & height. Identification of ten loci associated with height highlights new biological pathways in human growth, Genome-wide association analysis identifies 20 loci that influence adult height and Many sequence variants affecting diversity of adult human height. Dan MacArthur hits the major point:
ScienceDaily puts a positive spin on the story ("Scientists are beginning to develop a clearer picture of what makes some people stand head and shoulders above the rest"), but the real story is this: despite the massive scale of these studies,…
razib | April 2, 2008Interesting new paper in Genetics, Dietary Change and Adaptive Evolution of enamelin in Humans and Among Primates:
Scans of the human genome have identified many loci as potential targets of recent selection, but exploration of these candidates is required to verify the accuracy of genomewide scans and clarify the importance of adaptive evolution in recent human history. We present analyses of one such candidate, enamelin, whose protein product operates in tooth enamel formation in 100 individuals from 10 populations. Evidence of a recent selective sweep at this locus confirms the signal of…
nisbetmc | April 2, 2008Yesterday, on NPR's Diane Rehm Show, Francis Collins appeared with other guests to talk about the science and ethics of personal genetic testing. The show was prompted in part by a front page feature that Rick Weiss wrote on the topic last week at The Washington Post.
Personal Genetic Testing
A growing number of people are turning to personalized genetic testing to learn about possible predisposition to some diseases, inherited behavioral traits, and clues to their family heritage. We'll talk about what these tests can tell us and some of the new questions they raise.
Guests
Dr. Francis…
razib | April 1, 2008A new paper in PLOS One, Ethnic Related Selection for an ADH Class I Variant within East Asia:
The alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) are widely studied enzymes and the evolution of the mammalian gene cluster encoding these enzymes is also well studied. Previous studies have shown that the ADH1B*47His allele at one of the seven genes in humans is associated with a decrease in the risk of alcoholism and the core molecular region with this allele has been selected for in some East Asian populations. As the frequency of ADH1B*47His is highest in East Asia, and very low in most of the rest of the world…
razib | March 30, 2008Dan MacArthur at Genetic Future has the details. Some of the stuff coming out of genomics reminds me a lot of what you see with social science; lots of sexy studies which turn out not to be as significant upon later analysis. Perhaps hypotheses are overrated?
clock | March 28, 2008Imagine: An Interview with Svante Paabo:
Svante Paabo works on the edge of what's possible. He ignites our imagination, unlocking tightly held secrets in ancient remains. By patiently and meticulously working out techniques to extract genetic information from skin, teeth, bones, and excrement, Paabo has become the leader of the ancient DNA pack. Sloths, cave bears, moas, wooly mammoths, extinct bees, and Neanderthals--all have succumbed to his scrutiny.
Paabo (see Image 1) broke ground in 1985, working surreptitiously at night in the lab where he conducted his unrelated PhD research, to…
gregladen | March 28, 2008
Welcome to Gene Genie #24: with a heavy emphasis on Personal Genetics
The previous Gene Genie was hosted at DNAdirect Talk and it is still fresh, so go have a look if you have not already. The next Gene Genie will be hosted at My Biotech Life. By the way, the Gene Genie logo was created by Ricardo at My Biotech Life -- see the other award winning artwork here.
If you wish to submit a post for the next Gene Genie, you may use the handy-dandy submission form.
And, now, on with the show:
Did you ever wonder How many knocked out genes in Knock Out mice? at molecular B(io)LOG(y)
One would…
razib | March 28, 2008Another paper is out which falls under the category of using genetics to understand human history; Analysis of Genomic Admixture in Uyghur and Its Implication in Mapping Strategy:
The Uyghur (UIG) population, settled in Xinjiang, China, is a population presenting a typical admixture of Eastern and Western anthropometric traits. We dissected its genomic structure at population level, individual level, and chromosome level by using 20,177 SNPs spanning nearly the entire chromosome 21. Our results showed that UIG was formed by two-way admixture, with 60% European ancestry and 40% East Asian…
awild | March 24, 2008
Tribolium castaneum - Red Flour Beetle
The genome of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum was published today in Nature. This latest insect genome is interesting not for what it says about beetles but for what it says about another model species, the venerable fruit fly. The more we learn about other insect genomes- the honeybee, the mosquito, and now the flour beetle- the more we see that the famed Drosophila fruit fly is an odd little beast. The bee and now the beetle, it turns out, are both rather normal. They share a lot of proteins with mammals, and fish, and other animals we…