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.
Aw, A Success
November 06, 2009
A Forbes article entitled, “Genomics: No Longer A Failure,” says that Human Genome Sciences and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are finally living up to the hype promised during Human Genome Project. Human Genome saw positive results in a second study of its lupus drug, Benlysta, and Vertex presented mid-stage results of its hepatitis C drug, telaprevir, that indicated it could work as well if taken twice a day as three times a day, which is how it is currently being tested. Forbes notes that Benlysta would be “one of the first [drugs] to emerge from newfangled efforts to decipher the human genome that started in the early 1990s, amid enormous amounts of hype that it would lead to a huge cornucopia of new drugs.”
