Editorial Board and Contents
Publication date: December 2019Source: Trends in Genetics, Volume 35, Issue 12Author(s): (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 13, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
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Publication date: December 2019Source: Trends in Genetics, Volume 35, Issue 12Author(s): (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 13, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Evolution of Immune Sexual Dimorphism in Response to Placental Invasiveness: A Reply to Greenbaum and Greenbaum
Publication date: Available online 9 November 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Angela R. Garcia, Heini Natri, Kenneth H. Buetow, Benjamin C. Trumble, Melissa A. Wilson (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 10, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Endogenous Retroviruses and the Pregnancy Compensation Hypothesis: A Response to Natri et al.
Publication date: Available online 6 November 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Matthew D. David (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 7, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Evolution of Epistatic Networks and the Genetic Basis of Innate Behaviors
Publication date: Available online 7 November 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Robert R.H. AnholtInstinctive behaviors are genetically programmed behaviors that occur independent of experience. How genetic programs that give rise to the manifestation of such behaviors evolve remains an unresolved question. I propose that evolution of species-specific innate behaviors is accomplished through progressive modifications of pre-existing genetic networks composed of allelic variants. I hypothesize that changes in frequencies of one or more constituent allelic variants within the network leads to changes in gene network c...
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 7, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Evolvability Costs of Niche Expansion
Publication date: Available online 5 November 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Lisa M. Bono, Jeremy A. Draghi, Paul E. TurnerWhat prevents generalists from displacing specialists, despite obvious competitive advantages of utilizing a broad niche? The classic genetic explanation is antagonistic pleiotropy: genes underlying the generalism produce ‘jacks-of-all-trades’ that are masters of none. However, experiments challenge this assumption that mutations enabling niche expansion must reduce fitness in other environments. Theory suggests an alternative cost of generalism: decreased evolvability, or the reduced cap...
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 6, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Editorial Board and Contents
Publication date: November 2019Source: Trends in Genetics, Volume 35, Issue 11Author(s): (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 1, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
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Publication date: November 2019Source: Trends in Genetics, Volume 35, Issue 11Author(s): (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - November 1, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Long Noncoding RNAs and Repetitive Elements: Junk or Intimate Evolutionary Partners?
Publication date: Available online 29 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Hyunmin Lee, Zhaolei Zhang, Henry M. KrauseOur recent ability to sequence entire genomes, along with all of their transcribed RNAs, has led to the surprising finding that only ∼1% of the human genome is used to encode proteins. This finding has led to vigorous debate over the functional importance of the transcribed but untranslated portions of the genome. Currently, scientists tend to assume coding genes are functional until proven not to be, while the opposite is true for noncoding genes. This review takes a new look at the evidence...
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 30, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
The Selfishness of Law-Abiding Genes
Publication date: Available online 29 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Adrian BirdSelfish genes were once controversial, but it is now accepted that the genome contains parasitic elements in addition to a complement of conventional genes. This opinion article argues that ‘law-abiding’ genes also indulge in game playing to ensure their propagation, so that initially nonessential processes secure a genetic heritage. A gene-centered view of this kind can help to explain otherwise puzzling aspects of biology, including the complexity and stability of living systems. (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 30, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Introns: Good Day Junk Is Bad Day Treasure
Publication date: Available online 25 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Julie Parenteau, Sherif Abou ElelaIntrons are ubiquitous in eukaryotic transcripts. They are often viewed as junk RNA but the huge energetic burden of transcribing, removing, and degrading them suggests a significant evolutionary advantage. Ostensibly, an intron functions within the host pre-mRNA to regulate its splicing, transport, and degradation. However, recent studies have revealed an entirely new class of trans-acting functions where the presence of intronic RNA in the cell impacts the expression of other genes in trans. Here, we r...
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 26, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
A Genetic Instruction Code Based on DNA Conformation
Publication date: Available online 25 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Alan HerbertFlipons are sequences capable of forming either right- or left-handed DNA under physiological conditions, forming a class of dissipative structures that trade metabolic energy for information by cycling DNA between different chromatin states. Flipons enhance the diversity of transcriptomes, increasing entropy while enabling the evolution of features both new and unexpected. (Source: Trends in Genetics)
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 25, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
A New Role for SMCHD1 in Life’s Master Switch and Beyond
Publication date: Available online 25 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Peter Z. Schall, Meghan L. Ruebel, Keith E. LathamStructural maintenance of chromosomes flexible hinge-domain containing protein 1 (SMCHD1) has emerged as a key regulator of embryonic genome function. Its functions have now extended well beyond the initial findings of effects on X chromosome inactivation associated with lethality in female embryos homozygous for a null allele. Autosomal dominant effects impact stem cell properties as well as postnatal health. Recent studies have revealed that SMCHD1 plays an important role as a maternal ...
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 25, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
Somatic Variants: New Kids on the Block in Human Immunogenetics
Publication date: Available online 24 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): L. Van Horebeek, B. Dubois, A. GorisSomatic variants are not inherited but acquired during an individual’s lifetime, and individuals are increasingly considered as complex mosaics of genetically distinct cells. Whereas this concept is long-recognized in cancer, this review focuses on the growing role of somatic variants in immune cells in nonmalignant immune-related disorders, such as primary immunodeficiency and autoimmune diseases. Older case reports described somatic variants early in development, leading to large numbers of affecte...
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 24, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
The Editor’s I on Disease Development
Publication date: Available online 22 October 2019Source: Trends in GeneticsAuthor(s): Mamta Jain, Michael F. Jantsch, Konstantin LichtAdenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing of RNA leads to deamination of adenosine to inosine. Inosine is interpreted as guanosine by the cellular machinery, thus altering the coding, folding, splicing, or transport of transcripts. A-to-I editing is tightly regulated. Altered editing has severe consequences for human health and can cause interferonopathies, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular disease, as well as impacting on cancer progression. ADAR1-mediated RNA editing plays an importa...
Source: Trends in Genetics - October 22, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research
