Anna J Jasinska,Nelson B Freimer
Anna J Jasinska
Genetic approaches to dissecting complex traits in animal models increasingly use transcript levels as a molecular phenotype and as validation for predictions of gene function. A recent study in BMC Biology using these approaches shows the ...
Patrick Bermudez,Robert J Zatorre
Patrick Bermudez
Absolute pitch has proved useful as an alternative perspective from which to investigate various cognitive faculties. A new functional magnetic resonance imaging study published recently in BMC Neuroscience adds new data to the ongoing deba...
Insulators as mediators of intra- and inter-chromosomal interactions: a common evolutionary theme [0.03%]
绝缘子作为染色体内和间动态相互作用的媒介：一个共同的进化主题
Chin-Tong Ong,Victor G Corces
Chin-Tong Ong
Insulator elements mediate intra- and inter-chromosomal interactions. The insulator protein CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is important for insulator function in several animals but a report in BMC Molecular Biology shows that Caenorhabditis e...
Beyond toxicity: aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated functions in the immune system [0.03%]
超越毒性：芳香烃受体介导的免疫系统功能
Brigitta Stockinger
Brigitta Stockinger
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor is a ligand-activated transcriptional regulator that binds dioxin and other exogenous contaminants and is responsible for their toxic effects, including immunosuppression. New evidence suggests, however, that t...
Lucy Dalton-Griffin,Paul Kellam
Lucy Dalton-Griffin
Molecular techniques for identifying pathogens associated with cancer continue to be developed, including one reported recently in BMC Medical Genomics. Identifying a causal infectious agent helps in understanding the biology of these cance...
Christopher L R Barratt,Vanessa Kay,Senga K Oxenham
Christopher L R Barratt
A recent paper in BMC Developmental Biology describes the development of the annulus of the mouse sperm cell, but much remains to be learnt about sperm cells despite their importance in human fertility.
Rick M Maizels
Rick M Maizels
Parasites are accomplished evaders of host immunity. Their evasion strategies have shaped every facet of the immune system, driving diversity within gene families and immune gene polymorphisms within populations. New studies published recen...
Robert K Semple
Robert K Semple
Although mice lacking the architectural DNA binding factor HMGA1 are diabetic and express very low levels of the insulin receptor, they have increased insulin sensitivity. A study in BMC Biology now suggests that changes in circulating reti...
David Sankoff
David Sankoff
The 'action' in genome-level evolution lies not in the large gene-containing segments that are conserved among related species, but in the breakpoint regions between these segments. Two recent papers in BMC Genomics detail the pattern of re...
Comparative embryology without a microscope: using genomic approaches to understand the evolution of development [0.03%]
不用显微镜的比较胚胎学：利用基因组方法来理解发育的进化
David A Garfield,Gregory A Wray
David A Garfield
Until recently, understanding developmental conservation and change has relied on embryological comparisons and analyses of single genes. Several studies, including one recently published in BMC Biology, have now taken a genomic approach to...