Human Genetic Variation Alters Anthrax Toxin Sensitivity
Martchenko, Candille et al., PNAS
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine show that genetic variation affecting capillary morphogenesis gene 2, or CMG2, dramatically alters toxin sensitivity in humans. In its analysis, the team reports on "a CMG2 single-nucleotide polymorphism occurring frequently in African and European populations [that they found] independently altered toxin uptake." The group goes on to suggest "testing of genomically characterized human cell populations may offer a broadly useful strategy for elucidating effects of genetic variation on infectious disease susceptibility."
Extinct May No Longer Mean Forever
January 13, 2009
An international team of scientists has sequenced the DNA of two extinct Tasmanian "tigers," finding that the two animals were extremely similar to each other with only five differences in 15,492 nucleotides. Their findings suggest that the Australian marsupials, which looked like dogs but were evolutionarily more closely related to kangaroos and koalas, died out about 70 years ago because they may have become too inbred to survive. "Our goal is to learn how to prevent endangered species from going extinct," says co-author Web Miller, in a BBC story.