Connection Between Epigenome, Selective Mutability, Evolution, and Human Disease
Li, Harris et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and elsewhere propose a "connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease" based on the findings of their study on associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination mediated by low-copy repeats. "Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability," the Baylor-led team writes.
AAMC, NIH PI Age Data Mashup
February 14, 2012
In a Rock Talk post, National Institutes of Health's Deputy Director for Extramural Research Sally Rockey discusses the "age distribution of NIH principal investigators and medical school faculty." Using Association of American Medical Colleges data, Rockey compares information on medical school faculty with data her group has collected on awards made to PIs who do not work at medical schools. The following video compiles data from both AAMC and NIH from 1980 to 2010.