Sequencing and Analysis of the Hydra Genome
Chapman, Kirkness et al., Nature
An international research collaboration reports their sequencing and analysis of the Hydra magnipapillata genome, and compare it to the genomes of several other organisms. "The Hydra genome has been shaped by bursts of transposable element expansion, horizontal gene transfer, trans-splicing, and simplification of gene structure and gene content that parallel simplification of the Hydra life cycle," the authors write. They team suggests that comparisons of the Hydra genome to the reported sequences of other animals have helped them to elucidate the evolution of several of the organism's characteristics.
$750M Lab Tax Part of ‘Aggressive Effort to Reshape’ Baucus Debacle
September 21, 2009
Sen. Max Baucus’ plan to pay for his $900 billion health-care reform package by levying a $750 million annual performance tax on clinical labs hit a speed bump over the weekend.
According to Bloomberg, members of the Senate Finance Committee, which Baucus chairs, “signaled an aggressive effort to reshape” Baucus’ proposal, which he birthed two weeks ago.
Indeed, members of both parties “want to make a host of changes” — 564 to be exact — in time for the panel’s meeting later this week. One such amendment, offered by Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the committee, would eliminate [the] $13 billion in fees that would be imposed on the insurance, pharmaceutical, clinical laboratory and medical-device sectors,” Bloomberg reports. Included in this figure is the $750 million clinical lab performance tax.
Shares in the three publicly traded clinical reference labs that stand to bear the brunt of the new annual tax have yet to rebound since investors got wind of the Baucus debacle Sept 8: Bio-Reference Labs’ stock is down nearly 4 percent, Quest's is down nearly 6 percent, and LabCorp's has fallen 8.6 percent.
As I said before, curbing health-care costs by making health care vastly more expensive appears to pass for logic in Washington, DC.
