Chromosome-Scale Selective Sweeps and Genomic Diversity in C. elegans
Andersen, Gerke et al., Nature Genetics
Researchers at Princeton University and elsewhere discuss the effects of chromosome-scale selective sweeps on genomic diversity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Taking a high-throughput selective sequencing approach on a collection of 200 wild C. elegans strains, the team found that the nematode's "genome variation is dominated by a set of commonly shared haplotypes on four of its six chromosomes, each spanning many megabases." Further, the team reports on its population genetic modeling experiments, which showed that "this pattern was generated by chromosome-scale selective sweeps that have reduced variation worldwide; at least one of these sweeps probably occurred in the last few hundred years," it writes.
R&D, for the Economy
September 06, 2010
US President Obama is to ask Congress to increase and extend research and development tax credits, reports the Associated Press. Obama is to announce the proposal to extend a credit option for businesses from 14 percent to 17 percent, in a speech on Wednesday. The proposal will cost an estimated $100 billion. The Obama administration says this and a series of new measures will help grow the economy.