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.
All Those Funds
October 30, 2009
More than $625 million of NIH stimulus money is heading into 'omics coffers, reported our sister publication, GenomeWeb Daily News, earlier this month. That number represents 970 stimulus grants or about 14 percent of total NIH stimulus grant funding given out by the end of the 2009 fiscal year. And so, our other sister publications dug a bit more into the grants databases to see how that money is being spread around to the different technology areas. We sum their findings up here:
● InSequence says that field received at least $145 million spread over 89 grants.
● According to BioArray News, grants microarray and biochip-based projects were awarded collectively more than $76 million.
● RNAi News reports that $6 million-worth of those stimulus funds are heading to small RNA research.
● According to ProteoMonitor, the proteomics field received 114 stimulus grants, totaling nearly $45 million.
● BioInform reports that grants related to informatics numbered 194 and add up to $92 million.
● Pharmacogenomics Reporter notes that the Office of the HHS Secretary was given $400 million in stimulus funding to create the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. That same article notes that the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center received $4 million from the National Cancer Institute to develop CancerGen.
