Monthly Archives: October 2016

Accumulation of somatic changes, due to environmental and endogenous lesions, in the human genome is associated with aging and cancer. Understanding the impacts of these processes on mutagenesis is fundamental to understanding the etiology, and improving prognosis and prevention of … Continue reading →

Some species, such as giraffe or bottlenose dolphin, are immediately recognizable and might seem absolute, whereas other species, such as bonobo and chimpanzee, seem very closely related. In fact, Darwin in his 1859 book wrote about “strongly-marked varieties” as contrasted … Continue reading →

Here is an intriguing ‘gene-environment interactions’ example in which “genes” are those involved in adult-onset type-2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease, and “environment” is the uterus in which the embryo/fetus can be affected by maternal diet and stressors, and the … Continue reading →

Advances in genome assembly and phasing provide an opportunity to investigate the diploid architecture (i.e. taking into account that each human has pairs of chromosomes––with one allele for each gene on each of the two chromosomes in that pair) of … Continue reading →

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) studies in humans––such as the 1000 Genomes Project, which was completed last year––have contributed to a catalog of genetic variation and genomic regions that have allowed humans the ability to adapt (genetically) to diverse environments (diet, … Continue reading →

Every human suffers through life with a number of papillomaviruses (PVs) infections, most of them asymptomatic. One notable exception is persistent infection by Human Papillomavirus-16 (HPV16), the most oncogenic infectious agent for humans and responsible for most infection-driven anogenital cancers. … Continue reading →

Aneuploidy (abnormal numbers of chromosomes, transposition of segments, and duplicated chromosomes, even in cells adjacent to one another) is a hallmark of many different types of cancer. However, knowledge of how these complex genomic rearrangements evolve during tumorigenesis is still … Continue reading →

Heritability was traditionally thought to be a characteristic feature of the genetic material of an organism—notably, its DNA sequence. During the past several decades, however, it has become clear that inheritance that is independent of DNA sequence exists in the … Continue reading →

Glyphosate [N-(phosphono-methyl)glycine] is a broad-spectrum organophosphorus systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. More specifically, it is a phosphonate––used to kill weeds, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with agricultural crops. An ongoing controversy (more intense in the EU than in the rest of the world) involves whether … Continue reading →