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Archaea Make the Big Time

Carl Zimmer at the New York Times discusses the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea and the recent Nature paper on the first results from the effort. So far, Jonathan Eisen and his colleagues have sequenced 56 bacterial and archaeal genomes and found 1,768 new gene families. Zimmer adds that the Joint Genome Institute has also set up an "Adopt a Genome Program" to get college students interested in the project. Eisen has links to this and other mentions of his work on his blog. "It is rare to have archaea mentioned in the New York Times," he also notes there.

The Scan

Harvard Team Report One-Time Base Editing Treatment for Motor Neuron Disease in Mice

A base-editing approach restored SMN levels and improved motor function in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy, a new Science paper reports.

International Team Examines History of North American Horses

Genetic and other analyses presented in Science find that horses spread to the northern Rockies and Great Plains by the first half of the 17th century.

New Study Examines Genetic Dominance Within UK Biobank

Researchers analyze instances of genetic dominance within UK Biobank data, as they report in Science.

Cell Signaling Pathway Identified as Metastasis Suppressor

A new study in Nature homes in on the STING pathway as a suppressor of metastasis in a mouse model of lung cancer.