linkstream2 microblog

The #Height Gap – betw. individuals more rel. w. genes but betw. populations w. environment
http://www.NewYorker.com/magazine/2004/04/05/the-height-gap Why Americans are short!

Genetics & That Striped Dress
http://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/genetics-and-that-striped-dress @23andme on-the-fly SNP associations w/ pop trends. Next: targeting ads w/ alleles

A large set [1171] of rare complete human knockouts
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3243.html ~8% Icelanders have one; from a larger set of ~5K genes w/ #LOFs

Also:

In Iceland’s DNA, New Clues to Disease-Causing Genes – NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/science/in-icelands-dna-clues-to-what-genes-may-cause-disease.html

by Carl Zimmer
QT:{{”
The Decode researchers looked for human knockouts in Iceland — and found a lot of them. Nearly 8 percent of Icelanders lack a working version of a gene. All told, the Decode team identified 1,171 genes shut down in Icelandic knockouts.
In a 2012 study, Dr. MacArthur and his colleagues were able to identify just 253 genes knocked out in humans.
“}}

Convergent…specializations in brains of humans & songbirds http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6215/1256846.long Both have matching expression patterns across regions

Human & mouse [mRNA] #methylomes revealed by m6A-seq http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7397/full/nature11112.html Conservation across species & conditions (for most sites)

Dan Dominissini,
Sharon Moshitch-Moshkovitz,
Schraga Schwartz,
…
Rotem Sorek
& Gideon Rechavi

Nature 485, 201–206 (10 May 2012) doi:10.1038/nature11112

High-res mapping reveals a conserved…mRNA methylation program http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3956118/ Predicting methyl sites w/ seq., structure & position

Cell. 2013 Dec 5; 155(6): 1409–1421.
Published online 2013 Nov 21. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.10.047 PMCID: PMC3956118
NIHMSID: NIHMS550466

High-resolution mapping reveals a conserved, widespread, dynamic meiotically regulated mRNA methylation program

Schraga Schwartz,1,* Sudeep D. Agarwala,2,* Maxwell R. Mumbach,1 Marko Jovanovic,1 Philipp Mertins,1 Alexander Shishkin,1 Yuval Tabach,3,4 Tarjei S Mikkelsen,1 Rahul Satija,1 Gary Ruvkun,3,4 Steven A. Carr,1 Eric S. Lander,1,5,6 Gerald R. Fink,1,2,8 and Aviv Regev 1,7,8

Searching for missing heritability… rare variant association studies http://www.pnas.org/content/111/4/E455.abstract Pessimistic on #RVAS in #noncoding regions

Nice overview of study design. Good journal-club material.

‘A Troublesome Inheritance’ and ‘Inheritance’
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/books/review/a-troublesome-inheritance-and-inheritance.html

http://www.amazon.com/Inheritance-Genes-Change-Lives—Lives/dp/1455549444

available via audible

QT:{{”
One can find more productive ways to think about genes. As a physician who researches and treats rare genetic disorders, Sharon Moalem, the author of “Inheritance,” sees firsthand how sharply DNA can constrain our lives. Yet “our genes aren’t as fixed and rigid as most of us have been led to believe,” he says, for while genetic defects often create havoc, variable gene expression (our genes’ capacity to respond to the environment with a flexibility only now being fully recognized) can give our bodies and minds surprising resilience. In his new book, Moalem describes riveting dramas emerging from both defective genes and reparative epigenetics.
“}}

Neutral genomic regions refine models of recent rapid human population growth

Elodie Gazave, Li Ma, Diana Chang, Alex Coventry, Feng Gao, Donna Muzny, Eric Boerwinkle, Richard A. Gibbs, Charles F. Sing, Andrew G. Clark, and Alon Keinan

QT:{{”
Recent rapid growth of human populations predicts that a large number of genetic variants in populations today are very rare, i.e., appear in a small number of individuals. This effect is similar to that of purifying selection, which drives deleterious alleles to become rarer. “}}

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2013/09/09/130909crat_atlarge_gladwell

A CRITIC AT LARGE

MAN AND SUPERMAN

In athletic competitions, what qualifies as a sporting chance?

BY MALCOLM GLADWELL

Do #Genetic Advantages Make #Sports Unfair? In contrast to doping, corrective operations, &c http://nyr.kr/1ftwS9p MT @drbachinsky