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.
Science in America
July 10, 2009
A new poll's out from the Pew Research Center on how researchers and the public view American science. After polling about 2,500 members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and 2,000 lay people, the data show a gap between what scientists and the public believe. About half of scientists say that American research leads the world, and they largely accept both evolution and anthropogenic global warming. Seventeen percent of the public say that American researchers are world-leaders, a third say that humans have always been in their current form, and half say that people are the cause of climate change. The public still hold scientists in high esteem, but, as the New York Times says, "the feeling is hardly mutual" as 85 percent of scientist say that public ignorance is a large problem.
