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 Not Every Day LabCorp, Quest, and Genoptix are Mentioned in Politico
January 19, 2010
If you've been watching shares in LabCorp, Quest, and Genoptix and wondered why they happened to slip on unusually heavy volume Jan. 6 you may find the culprit in a rumor that briefly oozed out of Washington.
According to the widely read political news service Politico, "[l]ate in the morning on Jan. 6, a rumor flew through Washington that Democrats were considering slapping a $750 million annual fee on clinical laboratories to help pay for health care reform. At about noon, the stocks of Quest Diagnostics, Genoptix, and Laboratory Corp. all went south."
The rumor apparently reignited fears that had been doused last September when Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus killed his quest to levy the annual performance tax on clinical labs. Scary indeed.
Wall Street, having gotten wind of the Jan. 6 rumor, caused trading volume in the shares to spike well above average and the stocks to slide temporarily. LabCorp's stock that day fell 1.6 percent on volume they hadn't seen since last October; Quest's shares shrank 1.5 percent, also on volume not seen since last October; and Genoptix's stock retreated 2 percent on volume not seen in a month. I might add that shares in Bio-Reference Labs also briefly fell, to 1.8 percent on volume not seen in a month.
The Politico article, which is centered on the "increasing number of law and lobbying firms offering political intelligence services to clients," said that "[a]fter a few frantic calls to House and Senate aides, the rumor was quashed, and by day’s end, the stocks had ticked back up and stabilized."
The article didn't say who the source of the rumor was.
