Genome

About 30,000 years ago, a tiny mutation arose in a gene known as EDAR and began to spread rapidly in central China, eventually becoming common in the region. This week, scientists at Harvard University offered some explanations for why the EDAR mutation may have been so successful - by observing how it affects mice, animals long used in disease research but never before pressed into service for the study of human evolution. The small change, substituting one chemical letter of DNA for another, may have helped humans in Asia survive crippling heat and humidity by endowing them with extra sweat glands, the scientists reported Thursday in the journal Cell.

They're big, they're furtive, they're weird-looking. You almost certainly wouldn't want to dine on one, since they're endangered and are said to cause digestive distress in people who eat them. But the African coelacanth is extremely useful in at least one way, said Jessica Alfoldi, a research scientist at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Mass.  Because it resembles ancient marine ancestors, it's a beloved subject for biologists trying to figure out how land vertebrates' fish forebears first climbed out from oceans, some 400 million years ago. On Wednesday the fish became even more valuable for researchers, as Alfoldi and an international team of collaborators published a draft of the coelocanth's genome in the journal Nature . The genome, a record of the 2.86 billion DNA letter pairs that make up the strange beast's genetic blueprint, could help scientists answer a host of questions about land creatures' evolution -- for instance, how fins became limbs, or how animals developed placentas.

Europe's feared Black Death wiped out about 30 million people -- 30 to 50% of the population on the continent -- in a period of just five years, between 1347 and 1351.   Now geneticists have reconstructed the genome of the bug that caused the plague -- an ancient strain of a bacterium called Yersinia pestis -- and have discovered that it wasn't so different from descendants existing today. The discovery, made by scientists at McMaster University in Canada, the University of Tubingen in Germany and collaborators at other institutions, was described in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

One complaint leveled against genome studies is that they don't survey a broad enough swath of humankind. Though many projects have searched DNA collected from people of European descent -- hoping to ferret out which changes in what parts of the genome are linked to this disease or that -- fewer have investigated the genomes of other ethnic groups.  In 2011, Stanford University geneticist and MacArthur "genius" grant recipient Carlos Bustamante discussed...

There's a lot a researcher can learn, it turns out, from studying some cells from a common farm pig. Assembling the genome, or DNA letters, of a domestic Duroc pig named T.J. Tabasco and comparing it with the genomes of the wild boar, the mouse, the dog, the horse, the cow - and yes, the human - members of the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium were able to determine that Asian and European pig lineages split 800,000 to 1.6 million years ago, suggesting...

Another day, another genome -- that's how easy large-scale DNA sequencing has gotten these days. Following fast on the tracks of the domestic Duroc pig and the watermelon , bread wheat, Triticum aestivum ,  now has its genetic code laid bare.  It was a tough job --  because the ancient events that gave rise to wheat involved three separate hybridization events between close grassy relatives, resulting in a hulking, bloated genome....

Patients were dying at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., and the suspect was an elusive and resilient strain of bacteria called Klebsiella pnuemoniae . But how could the infectious disease control sleuths at NIH's research hospital collar the perpetrator and put an end to its reign of terror? The answer, in this most forward-leaning of research institutions, was genomic sequencing. Drug-resistant bacterial infections lurk everywhere in hospitals, with the comings and goings of sick people, tended by an army of medical professionals using common equipment including sheets, plumbing, CAT scanners and infusion pumps.

How long will it be before prenatal care involves sequencing the genome of a fetus to detect genetic disorders before birth? Several recent reports have shown it can be done, based on the tiny bits of DNA that float around in the mother-to-be's blood plasma during pregnancy. Another such study came out this week in the journal Nature -- with some important advances. In the past, fetal-genome analyses have involved getting samples of DNA from three places: the woman's blood cells (to identify her genome)

In many respects, it's getting easier and easier to sequence and interpret the human genome, the full set of DNA letters that makes up a person's genetic blueprint.  Technology is improving, making the process cheaper and faster .  Vast data centers allow researchers to probe genetic data on vast scales, seeking out connections between specific genetic variants and human traits.  Scientists are also beginning to understand better the function of...

Genomics research, in which researchers scan subjects' DNA in search of the genetic basis of many diseases, has focused too narrowly on studying subjects of European descent, write a team of genetics experts in the journal Nature this week. The Los Angeles Times spoke with one of the authors of the piece, Stanford population geneticist and 2010 MacArthur Fellow Carlos D. Bustamante, about why scientists should focus on sequencing genomes of people from other ethnic groups, too. What got you interested in this problem?

Making good on a promise first hinted at during his State of the Union speech in February, President Obama on Tuesday unveiled the broad outlines of a scientific initiative aimed at mapping the human brain. The project's ambitious goals include understanding how the brain forms memories and controls behavior; how it becomes damaged by conditions such as Parkinson's disease and autism; and how it can be repaired when afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses.

President Obama's brain-mapping initiative, for which he has proposed $110 million in federal funding for 2014, will focus how on how the brain is affected by conditions such as Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and autism; how it produces memories and programs human behavior; and what treatments could lead to cures for post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer's disease and other neuropsychiatric afflictions. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative is modeled after the Human Genome Project of the 1990s and early 2000s.

About 30,000 years ago, a tiny mutation arose in a gene known as EDAR and began to spread rapidly in central China, eventually becoming common in the region. This week, scientists at Harvard University offered some explanations for why the EDAR mutation may have been so successful - by observing how it affects mice, animals long used in disease research but never before pressed into service for the study of human evolution. The small change, substituting one chemical letter of DNA for another, may have helped humans in Asia survive crippling heat and humidity by endowing them with extra sweat glands, the scientists reported Thursday in the journal Cell.

Scouring information available to anyone with an Internet connection, a team of genetic sleuths deduced the names of dozens of supposedly anonymous people who had their DNA analyzed for scientific and medical research. The snooping feat, which took advantage of genealogy websites that let people compare their DNA to search for relatives, was in full compliance with federal privacy regulations. Experts said it underscored a stark reality about genetic privacy in the age of social media: Don't count on it. "Nobody can promise privacy," said Mildred Cho, who heads up Stanford University's Center for Integration of Research on Genetics and Ethics, and wasn't involved with the study.

Another day, another genome -- that's how easy large-scale DNA sequencing has gotten these days. Following fast on the tracks of the domestic Duroc pig and the watermelon , bread wheat, Triticum aestivum ,  now has its genetic code laid bare.  It was a tough job --  because the ancient events that gave rise to wheat involved three separate hybridization events between close grassy relatives, resulting in a hulking, bloated genome....

There's a lot a researcher can learn, it turns out, from studying some cells from a common farm pig. Assembling the genome, or DNA letters, of a domestic Duroc pig named T.J. Tabasco and comparing it with the genomes of the wild boar, the mouse, the dog, the horse, the cow - and yes, the human - members of the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium were able to determine that Asian and European pig lineages split 800,000 to 1.6 million years ago, suggesting...

Scientists have sequenced the genome of the giant panda, an achievement that may aid efforts to protect the endangered species, the official New China News Agency reported. By understanding the genetic makeup of giant pandas, researchers may be able to explain their low birthrate and help them to have more cubs, Wang Jun, a scientist at the Beijing Genomics Institute, was quoted as saying. Launched in March, the project discovered evidence to support the theory that giant pandas might be a subspecies of black bear, the agency said.

Our ancestors didn't walk alone: Neanderthals and other ancient peoples shared Earth with them tens of thousands of years ago. Now, using new technology, scientists have sequenced with high precision the genome of one of those close but little-known relatives: an extinct people known as the Denisovans, who lived in and around modern-day Siberia. The Denisovan genome, reported online Thursday in the journal Science, was derived from tiny quantities of shredded DNA extracted from a finger bone found in a Russian cave in 2008, as well as a tooth found later.

In many respects, it's getting easier and easier to sequence and interpret the human genome, the full set of DNA letters that makes up a person's genetic blueprint.  Technology is improving, making the process cheaper and faster .  Vast data centers allow researchers to probe genetic data on vast scales, seeking out connections between specific genetic variants and human traits.  Scientists are also beginning to understand better the function of...

Mountain View, Calif., company Complete Genomics Inc. agreed to a buyout offer from Chinese genomics firm BGI-Shenzen, an acquisition the two businesses are valuing at $117.6 million The $3.15-a-share offer comes a few months after Complete Genomics said it was looking at strategic alternatives and laying off 55 employees - or roughly 20% of its workforce - to cut costs. The company produces DNA-sequencing technology used for medical research. The offer represents an 18% premium on Friday's $2.67-a-share closing price, but a 54% premium on the $2.04 closing price on June 4, the trading day before Complete Genomics said it would consider a merger, sale or other major move.