Monthly Archives: January 2018

Variants in the ADCY3 gene, plus the contributing effects of MC4R, as a cause of obesity

Posted on January 27, 2018 by DWN

Obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of >30 kg/m2, is commonly used in these GEITP pages as an example of a multifactorial trait –– i.e. a reflection of hundreds if not thousands of “small-effect” genes, plus epigenetic factors, … Continue reading →

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kids aged 4-6 perform better during boring tasks when dressed as Batman

Posted on January 23, 2018 by DWN

Okay, okay. Some of you are going to question this topic. Let’s just say it has been a very slow ~2 weeks in trying to find “cutting-edge/fascinating” articles pertaining to Gene-Environment Interactions. But –– with some stretch of the imagination … Continue reading →

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Target gene activation via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated trans-epigenetic modulation in the intact animal

Posted on January 19, 2018 by DWN

In these GEITP pages, we have often discussed that any phenotype (trait) can be Mendelian or multifactorial. Mendelian inheritance involves the contribution from one or a relatively small number of genes –– and manifestations can occur at birth or later … Continue reading →

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The very mysterious ailment, chronic fatigue syndrome, is more common than one might think

Posted on January 16, 2018 by DWN

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) — also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME/CFS –– is a somewhat vague disorder that causes extreme fatigue and is more common than many people might think. The fatigue is not the kind of tired feeling … Continue reading →

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Evidence of convergent evolution of the central nervous system (CNS)

Posted on January 10, 2018 by DWN

The nervous systems of animals come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from a handful of neurons to large, complex brains. A basic evolutionary question has been whether the centralized nervous systems –– found in many bilaterally symmetrical animals (bilaterians, … Continue reading →

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FW: High-throughput annotation of full-length long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) — success using RNA Capture Long Seq (CLS)

Posted on January 9, 2018 by DWN

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), formerly called “long intergenic noncoding RNAs” (lincRNAs), represent a vast and relatively unexplored component of the mammalian genome. They are defined as “>200 nucleotides, and up to many thousands of nucleotides, that are transcribed into RNA … Continue reading →

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Novel Cobamide Structure Perhaps More Effective at Biological Degradation of Chlorinated Compounds???

Posted on January 7, 2018 by DWN

This is the summary of a recent successful Superfund Project, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Novel Cobamide Structure Perhaps More Effective at Biological Degradation of Chlorinated Compounds? Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered … Continue reading →

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Multi-ethnic genome-wide association study (GWAS) reveals polygenic architecture of earlobe attachment

Posted on January 6, 2018 by DWN

I can still remember the day when one of my sons (and he was certainly no more than 6 years old) was deep in thought and then asked, “How many genes do you think it would take to make a … Continue reading →

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High-throughput annotation of full-length long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) — success using RNA Capture Long Seq (CLS)

Posted on January 5, 2018 by DWN

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), formerly called “long intergenic noncoding RNAs” (lincRNAs), represent a vast and relatively unexplored component of the mammalian genome. They are defined as “>200 nucleotides, and up to many thousands of nucleotides, that are transcribed into RNA … Continue reading →

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Decreased mutation rate in exons — discovered to be due to differential DNA mismatch repair

Posted on January 5, 2018 by DWN

A mutation usually means “the change in one base” [one nucleotide in the haploid genome; one base-pair (bp) in the diploid genome], but sometimes “mutations” can include any changes –– from a single bp alteration to many bases (two, five, … Continue reading →

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