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.
Aren't Myths Just Truths That Evolved Over Time?
January 06, 2009
At his blog The Rough Guide to Evolution, Mark Pallen has a post shooting down 10 myths about Charles Darwin. "There are many suppositions masquerading as facts -- for example, how many times have you seen it written that Darwin suffered from [Chagas] disease or his daughter Annie died from tuberculosis, when there is no way anyone can make a definitive diagnosis in either case," he writes. Some of the myths revolve around Darwin's religious views, a possible connection to Karl Marx, and his eureka moment brought on by finches (they were mockingbirds, Pallen says).
