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.
Not So Traditional, After All
The National Institutes of Health's Office of Intramural Training and Education's Careers blog this week discusses a CBE Life Sciences Education study that shows more and more graduate students now view tenure-track positions as non-traditional career choices, alternative to the norm. The study shows that "71.2 percent of all graduate students polled were 'strongly considering' a career that was outside of scientific research," the OITE Careers blog says. "These data are interesting and certainly validating for those who are having or have had the desires to move from the traditional career path for a bioscience PhD," OITE Careers adds, sayng that the study's results "drive home the point that there is a need for graduate education to evolve."