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.
The (Unlikely) Weapon of Choice
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted tips to prepare for a zombie apocalypse. But when zombies attack the lab ('Better safe than sorry,' right CDC Assistant Surgeon General Ali Khan?), a seemingly mundane piece of equipment might save the day. In a first-person narrative posted to LabLit this week, author Nigel Eastmond chronicles an unnamed protagonist's triumphant victory over his living-dead labmates using an unlikely weapon — an improperly balanced centrifuge. While zombies — "about 20 groaning scientists, admins, and students in stained lab coats," to be precise — closed in on him in the biology lab, the protagonist realized that he had to take action, and fast:
Remember, Eastmond writes, just like your Biol 201 professor warned: "an unbalanced centrifuge is incredibly dangerous." And in the event of a zombie attack, it could be incredibly handy. Be sure the read Eastmond's full "report on the success and failure of the various means a lab worker might have at their disposal for stopping a Category 2 zombie attack," here.