Connection Between Epigenome, Selective Mutability, Evolution, and Human Disease
Li, Harris et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and elsewhere propose a "connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease" based on the findings of their study on associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination mediated by low-copy repeats. "Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability," the Baylor-led team writes.
A Journal for Bold Ideas
Researchers have rallied, sending in letters, to prevent changes to the journal Medical Hypotheses, reports The Scientist. Articles that appear in the journal are not peer-reviewed; instead, they are chosen by editor-in-chief Bruce Charlton. "Medical Hypotheses has become an important vehicle for publishing exciting new ideas and information that is helping to shape the directions of medical research," writes Paul Sherman from Cornell University. "Cancelling the journal, or massively altering its focus and editorial policies, would potentially deprive both the medical and biological communities of their only existing forum for interaction." Elsevier, which owns the journal, is considering switching it to a peer-review model after publishing a paper from an HIV denialist. Elsevier retracted that and another paper. In Times Higher Education, the University of Warwick's Steve Fuller adds: "Medical Hypotheses has never hidden what it set out to do, namely to provide a forum for bold scientific ideas that challenge the status quo."