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.
Bingo!
November 06, 2009
There’s a new game out there and it is attempting to teach people in academia to recognize gender bias, according to this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This Gender Bias Bingo allows players, both female and male, to submit their experiences and if they submit at least three, they win a T-shirt. The game comes from the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law and the director, Joan Williams, says that “we also want to get a buzz going so other people—department chairs—will secretly visit the site to learn what's going on."
At the Intersection, Sheril Kirshenbaum adds, “Not only does the game highlight the myriad of struggles facing women in the ivory towers, but it serves as a kind of tangible record—a visible means to display the ugly marks left across academia by such behavior.”
