Education

Education

March: First designer yeast chromosome opens door to reengineering cells

In the March Genome Advance of the Month, we learn how scientists have redesigned the species of yeast - Saccharomyces cerevisiae - that is instrumental in winemaking, baking and brewing. Researchers have created a blueprint for a sleeker sequence that can be rearranged on command. The end result is a synthetic chromosome called synIII, which functions correctly when inserted into a host yeast cell. Read more

February: Circulating tumor DNA: A new generation of cancer biomarkers

February's Genome Advance of the Month describes a new study, published in the February 19, 2014, issue of Science Translational Medicine, which examines the potential of screening ctDNA for somatic mutations as a way to detect and follow the progression of a patient's tumor. More studies are needed, but this research demonstrates the immense potential of ctDNA to improve the early detection and treatment of cancer. Read more

January: The evolutionary mark of Y. pestis and the Black Death

The course of human history has been shaped not only by human thoughts and actions, but also by our interactions with the surrounding environment. This includes the trillions of microscopic viruses and bacteria that beset us on a daily basis and which, prior to the advent of 20^th century medicine, were a significant contributor to disease and mortality.  January's Genome Advance features two studies that use genomics to explore the role of the Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) bacterium in two historic plague pandemics and its evolutionary mark on the human genome. Read more