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.
Play It Safe
June 29, 2009
The way grants are doled out leads researchers to play it safe -- and that's why there has been little progress in the "war on cancer," writes Gina Kolata in the New York Times. Incremental research is chosen by reviewers because "with too little money to finance most proposals, they are timid about taking chances on ones that might not succeed," Kolata writes.
At Respectful Insolence, Orac says that questioning whether the money was well-spent is fine, but that in the article. "Specifically, there is an unspoken assumption that 'riskier' research is inherently more likely to result in 'breakthroughs' than the more incremental model of building on previous results," Orac writes.
