WIKIMEDIA, ARCHAEOGENETICSTwo independent teams have uncovered evidence to suggest that a core set of Y chromosome genes are critical not just for sex determination, but also for transcription, translation, and other regulatory functions throughout the genome. Their work was published in Nature this week (April 23).
In the face of lingering theories that the Y chromosome is on its way to extinction, these papers provide “a tremendous rational for why these genes have been retained,” said geneticist Carlos Bustamante of Stanford Medical School, who was not involved in the work.
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALESResearchers have long sought to deliver brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to the cochlea to stimulate neuronal growth and treat hearing loss. Now, a team from the University of New South Wales has come up with a new solution—loading up cochlear implants with BDNF before surgery. Once implanted, the devices deliver the gene locally via brief electric bursts. The team’s work was published in Science Translational Medicine this week (April 23).
“Using BDNF to grow spiral ganglion cell neurites toward electrodes is an old idea (yet still an important one), but the use of the electrode array to focus targeted gene therapy as described is highly innovative,” Jay Rubinstein from the University of Washington, who was not involved in the work, told The Scientist in an e-mail.
MIT, CARLY SANKERExamining the high-light–adapted strain of the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, scientists from MIT and their colleagues unearthed high diversity within individual genomes.
