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.
'Science's Masters'
February 10, 2012
Most important advances in science come with a set of ethical dilemmas, but researchers must be careful to remain "science's masters" and not "at its mercy," says the Guardian's John Harris. Research into how the brain works, for example, could one day lead to treatments for disease and brain damage, but could also lead to brain manipulation for nefarious purposes. "The price of liberty may be eternal vigilance but we need science, not least because it is our most obvious source of the sort of innovation that saves lives and produces welfare," Harris says. "Our vigilance must be as much to ensure we don't stifle science as it is to be sure science remains our servant not our master."