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.
It's Going to Get Nippy
February 05, 2010
To close its $150 million budget gap, Yale University will be cutting staff, freezing salaries, and limiting the number of graduate students, reports the New York Times. A memo from Yale’s president and its provost, Richard Levin and Peter Salovey, said these steps were needed because the school's endowment dropped from $22.9 billion in June 2008 to $16.3 billion in June 2009. The Times adds that the memo did not say how many positions would be cut, though the reduction in gradates students will be between 10 and 15 percent. Also, Yale will be turning its heat down, setting thermostats to 68 degrees.
Yale's mission of advancing
Yale's mission of advancing human knowledge and training leaders in all fields will continue despite the temperature of the classrooms and number of grad students. Yale is actually becoming skilled in he art of efficient education. The online resources are exemplary.