Chromosome-Scale Selective Sweeps and Genomic Diversity in C. elegans
Andersen, Gerke et al., Nature Genetics
Researchers at Princeton University and elsewhere discuss the effects of chromosome-scale selective sweeps on genomic diversity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Taking a high-throughput selective sequencing approach on a collection of 200 wild C. elegans strains, the team found that the nematode's "genome variation is dominated by a set of commonly shared haplotypes on four of its six chromosomes, each spanning many megabases." Further, the team reports on its population genetic modeling experiments, which showed that "this pattern was generated by chromosome-scale selective sweeps that have reduced variation worldwide; at least one of these sweeps probably occurred in the last few hundred years," it writes.
Drug Safety Whistleblower Wants to Fix FDA. GTO Says, Good Luck!
The International Herald Tribune profiles Steven Nissen, the Cleveland Clinic scientist best known for his early warnings about the safety of Vioxx, long before the drug was taken off the market. Just a few months ago he sounded the alert about diabetes drug Avandia, and he is now rumored to be eyeing a post at FDA. (In an interview, Nissen recently said, "I want to fix the FDA.") According to the article, "By digging deeply into companies' own clinical trial data — information that used to be available only to U.S. drug regulators who did not always mine it as aggressively — Nissen is among a new cadre of activist scientists demanding greater vigilance on drug safety."
Which leaves us at GTO wondering, if Nissen can track this information to come up with safety warnings for these drugs, why isn't everyone doing the same thing?