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Microbial 'cheaters' help scientists ID 'social' genes
02-13-2008 · EurekAlert!The first genome-wide search for genes governing social behavior has found that even the simplest social creatures -- the amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum -- have more than 100 genes that help regulate cooperative behavior. The study by scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine was published online today by Nature. It marks one of the first large-scale attempts to combine evolutionary biology with genomics in a systematic search for genes tied to social behavior.
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Keywords: microbial, cheaters, scientists, social, genes, cheater, scientist, gene
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08-30-2007 · EurekAlert!
Scientists at the University of Rochester and the J. Craig Venter Institute have discovered a copy of the entire genome of a bacterial parasite residing inside the genome of its host species.The finding, reported in today's Science, suggests that lateral gene transfer -- the movement of genes between unrelated species -- may happen much more frequently between bacteria and multicellular organisms than scientists previously believed, posing dramatic implications for evolution.
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- Scientists discover tiny RNAs play a big role in controlling genes
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- Cigarettes leave deadly path by purging protective genes
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A University of Rochester scientist discovered that the toxins in cigarette smoke wipe out a gene that plays a vital role in protecting the body from the effects of premature aging. Without this gene we not only lose a bit of youthfulness -- but the lungs are left open to destructive inflammation and diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
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- Location matters, even for genes
02-13-2008 · EurekAlert!
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- UGA scientists discover bacterial 'switch gene' that regulates oceans' sulfur emissions into the air
10-26-2006 · EurekAlert!
A team of researchers, led by marine microbial ecologist Mary Ann Moran at the University of Georgia, has discovered a bacterial "switch gene" in two groups of plankton. This gene helps determine whether certain marine bacterioplankton convert a sulfur compound to one that rises into the atmosphere and affects the earth's temperature or remains climatically inactive in the seas.
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- Losses of long-established genes contribute to human evolution
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While it is well understood that the evolution of new genes leads to adaptations that help species survive, gene loss may also afford a selective advantage. A group of scientists at the University of California-Santa Cruz led by biomolecular engineering professor David Haussler has investigated this less-studied idea, carrying out the first systematic computational analysis to identify long-established genes that have been lost across millions of years of evolution leading to the human species.
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