Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:title>Male chimps evolve faster with age</jats:title> <jats:p> Chimpanzees are evolving faster than humans. Venn <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> examined the genetics of three generations of western chimpanzees and found that overall the mutation rate is similar between humans and chimpanzees. However, while male humans had three to four times the mutation rate of females, in chimpanzees the sex difference was even higher, with a male mutation rate five to six times that of females. Blame aging dads. For every extra year of the father's age, baby chimpanzees exhibited approximately one extra mutation. This finding will inform future studies of primate evolution. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> , this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1272" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.344.6189.1272">1272</jats:related-article> </jats:p>

<jats:title>Dissecting how signaling directs axon growth</jats:title> <jats:p> During development of the nervous system, nerve cells send out projections called axons that must be guided to their proper targets. Netrins are secreted proteins that bind to receptors to either attract or repel the growing axons. Xu <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> present x-ray structures that show that complexes of netrin with two different receptors, neogenin and DCC, have different architectures. How netrin signals remains to be understood in detail, but netrin's ability to create different assemblies probably plays a role in the diverse signaling outcomes it mediates. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> , this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1275" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1255149">1275</jats:related-article> </jats:p>

<jats:title>The population structure of Native Mexicans</jats:title> <jats:p> The genetics of indigenous Mexicans exhibit substantial geographical structure, some as divergent from each other as are existing populations of Europeans and Asians. By performing genome-wide analyses on Native Mexicans from differing populations, Moreno-Estrada <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> successfully recapitulated the pre-Columbian substructure of Mexico. This ancestral structure is evident among cosmopolitan Mexicans and is correlated with subcontinental origins and medically relevant aspects of lung function. These findings exemplify the importance of understanding the genetic contributions of admixed individuals. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> , this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1280" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1251688">1280</jats:related-article> </jats:p>

<jats:title>Pausing for control of gene expression</jats:title> <jats:p> Pausing during gene transcription can play a critical role in gene regulation. Vvedenskaya <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> mapped pause sites across the whole genome in actively growing <jats:italic>Escherichia coli</jats:italic> (see the Perspective by Roberts). Thousands of undocumented pause sites were identified across well-transcribed genes, allowing the definition of a consensus pause sequence that is dependent on specific interactions of RNA polymerase with the DNA template and nascent RNA transcript. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> , this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1285" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1253458">1285</jats:related-article> ; see also p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1226" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1255712">1226</jats:related-article> </jats:p>

<jats:title>Many connections are not always bad for health</jats:title> <jats:p> Contrary to expectations, highly connected populations can experience less impact from infectious disease than isolated groups. What happens to pathogens in natural populations has been poorly studied, because they rarely cause devastating disease outbreaks. Thanks to a long-term study of an inconspicuous fungal-plant disease system, we have now gained some surprising insights. During a 12-year study, Jousimo <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> discovered that clustered and linked host-plant patches showed lower levels of fungal damage and higher fungal extinction rates than more distant patches (see the Perspective by Duffy). This phenomenon is explained by high gene flow and rapid evolution of host resistance within the connected patches. Populations of the modest weed <jats:italic>Plantago</jats:italic> , growing on the Ã…land Islands in the Baltic, were less than 10% infected by the <jats:italic>Podosphaera</jats:italic> mildew fungus in any given year, but infection turnover was high. These findings have broad implications for ecology, disease biology, conservation, and agriculture. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> , this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1289" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1253621">1289</jats:related-article> ; see also p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1229" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1255350">1229</jats:related-article> </jats:p>

<jats:title>The crayfish that was afraid of the dark</jats:title> <jats:p> We tend to assume that complex emotions, such as anxiety, only occur in mammals or other cognitively complex vertebrates. But a heightened sense of awareness and the avoidance of novel or dangerous environments could be helpful for any animal species. Fossat <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> show that crayfish exposed to a stressful electric field refuse to enter dark arms in a light/dark maze, even after the electric field has been removed. The animals calmed down when they were injected with an anxiolytic drug used to treat anxiety in humans, and they entered the dark as normal. The stressed animals had increased levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, and injections of serotonin induced anxiety-like behavior in control animals. Thus, these invertebrates display a primitive form of anxiety that shares a mechanism with the more complex emotions displayed by vertebrates. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> , this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6189" page="1293" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="344" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1248811">1293</jats:related-article> </jats:p>

<jats:p>In the life sciences, data can come in many forms, including information about genomic sequences, molecular pathways, and different populations of people. Those data create a potential bonanza, if scientists can overcome one stumbling block: how to handle the complexity of information. Tools and techniques for analyzing big data promise to mold massive mounds of information into a better understanding of the basic biological mechanisms and how the results can be applied in, for example, health care.</jats:p>

<jats:p>A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.</jats:p>

<jats:p>On this week's show: Mapping genetic diversity in Mexico and a roundup of stories from our daily news site.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Big data is everywhere, and its influence and practical omnipresence across multiple industries will just continue to grow. For life scientists with expertise and an interest in bioinformatics, computer science, statistics, and related skill sets, the job outlook couldn’t be rosier. Big pharma, biotech, and software companies are clamoring to hire professionals with experience in bioinformatics and the identification, compilation, analysis, and visualization of huge amounts of biological and health care information. With the rapid development of new tools to make sense of life science research and outcomes, spurred by innovative research in bioinformatics itself, scientists who are entranced by data can pursue more career options than ever before.</jats:p>