Monthly Archives: March 2016

The Science of the Tax-Dollar Double Dip

Much research is federally funded, but if you want to see what you paid for, that’s going to cost you—again. RICHARD ASLIN March 30, 2016 Anyone upset about wasted government spending should take a look at for-profit scientific publishing, a $25 … Continue reading

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Inferring Population-Size History from Large Samples of Genome-Wide Molecular Data: An Approximate Bayesian Computation Approach

Molecular data sampled from present-day surviving individuals can contain considerable information about their demographic history. In particular, one classical question in population genetics is to reconstruct past population-size changes from such data. Relating these changes to various climatic, geological, or … Continue reading

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Pediatric patient diagnosed with VUS as “the cause for intractable seizures

This article is from theDNAexchange.com web site and is “pretty heavy”, … but it does describe some of the genomics and bioethical controversies surrounding genetic testing [including the patient, physicians in charge, and the lab(s) asked to do the genetic … Continue reading

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Is the Diagnosis Really ADHD, or Just Immaturity?

This is a recent article from the New York Times., summarizing a paper that recently appeared in J Pediat. This topic strikes at the heart of attention deficity hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It seems (to many physicians) that this diagnosis is … Continue reading

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Evolution of Hox gene topologically-associating domains (TADs) by way of studying the amphioxus, one of the earliest chordates

Recently we have seen spectacu­lar progress in elucidating evolutionarily the 3-dimensional organization of the vertebrate genome and its impact on gene expression. In particular, genes controlling embryonic development have been found to be regulated by sets of remote cis-acting elements, … Continue reading

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Integrative approaches for large-scale transcriptome-wide association studies

“Complex traits” (also called “multifactorial traits”) represent those in which hundreds if not thousands of genes contribute, as well as contribution from epigenetic factors, plus daily bombardment of environmental stimuli (both beneficial and damaging). Many genetic variants influence complex traits … Continue reading

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Genes having mono-allelic expression contribute disproportionately to genetic diversity in humans

An unexpectedly large number of human autosomal genes are subject to mono-allelic expression (MAE). In the attached report, analysis of 4,227 “MAE genes” uncovers surprisingly high genetic variation––across human populations. This increased diversity is unlikely to reflect relaxed purifying selection … Continue reading

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Ancient gene flow from early modern humans into Eastern Neanderthals

Our understanding of The Great Human Diaspora continues to become increasingly complex..!! First, it was presumed that Homo neaderthalensis, a subline splitting off from Homo sapiens following migration of early humans Out of Africa, did not interbreed with modern humans, … Continue reading

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Evolutionary History of the Human Being

This is a Youtube (animated) video (3.4-minute) sarcastically describing 500,000 years of “human evolution” ……  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU

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“Smell dating”..??

One might think that this is just a laughable matter, but it’s also a gene-environment interaction. Hundreds of olfactory receptor genes (ORs) encode olfactory receptors, which are constantly registering the odors from the environment (smells, pheromones). The result <<could lead>> … Continue reading

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