Monthly Archives: May 2020

Monkeys on a raft — is the only way to explain species on two continents ???

This mind-boggling story is way TOO COOL, bordering on heresy. 😉 Scientists have long been skeptical with the suggestion that small mammals crossed large oceanic barriers to populate faraway lands — millions of years ago…!! However, progress in phylogenetics during … Continue reading

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‘CO2 levels’ and your ‘carbon footprint’ — NOT the problem you’ve been told

Uh oh. Look what I just found online yesterday… but it looks like an interesting read. 😊 https://www.cfact.org/2020/05/28/ CO2 at the Yale Bowl ‘CO2 levels’ and your ‘carbon footprint’ — NOT the problem you’ve been told By Dan Nebert | … Continue reading

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HGNC spring newsletter 2020

For those interested — here is the Spring 2020 NewsLetter from the HUGO-based Human Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), located in London. Their web site is https://www.genenames.org/ and should be bookmarked by every scientist who is dealing with any gene or … Continue reading

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Assessing Digital Phenotyping to Enhance Genetic Studies of Human Diseases

Every genotype (genetic constitution of an individual organism) results in one or more phenotypes (traits). Long ago, it was assumed by many that one DNA variant (genotype) would be responsible for one phenotype (e.g. a disease, clinical presentation, or quantitative … Continue reading

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Insufficient Evidence for “Autism-Specific” Genes !!

As these GEITP pages have continued to emphasize, there are (relatively) monogenic diseases (Mendelian disorders) and there are human complex diseases [multifactorial traits that reflect contributions by genetics (DNA sequence alterations), epigenetic factors (not involving DNA mutations), environmental effects (e.g. … Continue reading

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Smoking May Exacerbate SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Increasing ACE2 Expression

This article, summarizing a paper just published in Developmental Cell, describes an interesting finding that fits with GEITP’s theme of gene-environment interactions: the environmental signal is “smoking” and the genome response includes “up-regulation of the ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme-2) gene.” These … Continue reading

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Targets of T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in humans with COVID-19 disease and unexposed individuals

These GEITP pages continue to stay updated on papers dealing with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and possible preventions and treatments. Vaccines against this new virus are just beginning to be developed. An understanding of human T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 is lacking, … Continue reading

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Real climate science

Nebert, Daniel (nebertdw) Tue 5/19/2020 3:31 PM This is an excellent article (posted on CFACT.org) — with lots of examples, providing evidence that our planet’s climate and weather have been forever changing, since the time Earth first formed 4.54 billion … Continue reading

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The nature of Neanderthal introgression — as revealed by 27,566 Icelandic genomes

These GEITP pages have often discussed publications about the Great Human Diaspora (migration of Homo sapiens, over the last 300,000 years, from eastern Africa to the rest of the world) and evolution in general — especially as it relates to … Continue reading

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First COVID-19 Vaccine Tested on Humans Shows Early Promise

This article today from MedScape and WebMD — reflects the “rapid frenetic reporting” that we are now observing, every week. These GEITP pages believe this frenzy simply reflects the internet and social media who want instant gratification rather than solid … Continue reading

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