Our Comparative History

I had the opportunity while on vacation to get waist deep in Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi, a compelling celebration of modern human genetics through the scope of mythology, folklore, and biomedical history. Leroi cites a particularly prophetic quote from Francis Bacon: Once a nature has been observed in its variations, and the reason for it has been made clear, it will be an easy matter to bring that nature by art to the point it reached by chance. The statement supports life-science investi

By Brendan Maher | July 22, 2005

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I had the opportunity while on vacation to get waist deep in Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi, a compelling celebration of modern human genetics through the scope of mythology, folklore, and biomedical history. Leroi cites a particularly prophetic quote from Francis Bacon:

Once a nature has been observed in its variations, and the reason for it has been made clear, it will be an easy matter to bring that nature by art to the point it reached by chance.

The statement supports life-science investigations from comparative anatomy to genetics (both forward and reverse) and beyond. Science released yesterday one of the largest comparative genomics studies to date. Comparing 8 mammalian genomes (human, mouse, rat, cat, cattle, dog, pig, and horse) they found that common usage of specific chromosomal breakpoints with associated fusions and rearrangements appears to be the engine of evolution accounting for the vast differences between us and the warm blooded creatures we?ve cultivated. What a vast step from comparing mouse and man or the lowly yeasts!