While research has identified hundreds of genes required for normal memory formation, genes that suppress memory are of special interest because they offer insights into how the brain prioritizes and manages all of the information, including memories, that it takes in every day. These genes also provide clues for how scientists might develop new treatments for cognitive disorders such as…
Lauren Phinney, an HBS major, has been selected to receive the jane b semel HCI Appreciation & Recognition Award for 2016. The award was created to recognize UCLA community members who actively demonstrate their support of the principles of the Healthy Campus Initiative in striving to improve the health and wellness of the UCLA community. Awardees initiated and/or implemented programs…
Evolution is thought to proceed through the gradual accumulation of independent mutations in each new generation. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers analyzing hominid genomes have discovered thousands of clustered mutations likely resulting from the coordinated activity of APOBEC enzymes, leading to accelerated changes in DNA. Mutations occur through a variety of mechanisms, including mutagenic agents…
The genome of the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla ssp. gorilla) has been sequenced at a high level of quality beginning to approach that of the human genome, says a team of scientists led by Prof. Evan Eichler from the University of Washington. Prof. Eichler and his colleagues used long-read sequencing technology, along with a unique combination of algorithms, to…
Dr. David Reich from Harvard Medical School and his colleagues have produced a world map of Denisovan and Neanderthal ancestry in 120 diverse populations. Their analysis proposes that Denisovan admixture into humans occurred about 100 generations after Neanderthal admixture. Dr. Reich and co-authors collected their data by comparing known Neanderthal and Denisovan gene sequences across more than 250 genomes from…
In a new evolutionary proof of the old adage, ‘we are what we eat’, Cornell University scientists have found tantalizing evidence that a vegetarian diet has led to a mutation that — if they stray from a balanced omega-6 to omega-3 diet — may make people more susceptible to inflammation, and by association, increased risk of heart disease and colon…