Author Archives: T. Ryan Gregory

Genetic horoscope.

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An ad in the Toronto Star:

CTV Winnipeg has also reported on this.

At the business website, they suggest:

DNA Disease Test can Indicate following Diseases:
Heart Health, Antioxidation, Bone Health (Osteoporosis), Abdominal aneurysm, Alzheimer’s disease, Atrial fibrillation, Rheumatoid arthritis, Psoriasis, Breast cancer, Celiac disease, Colon cancer, Crohn’s disease, Diabetes type 2, Glaucoma, Graves’ disease, Heart attack, Lung cancer, Lupus, Macular degeneration, Multiple sclerosis, Obesity, Osteoarthritis, Prostate cancer, Restless legs syndrome

This grabbed my attention:

What is DNA?

DNA can be called the blueprint for life. All living things contain DNA. For humans, DNA comes from genetic material passed on from both parents and is present in nearly every cell in the body. With the exception of identical twins, each person’s DNA is unique to them. Therefore, one’s DNA can tell a lot about the person.
What diseases you are predisposed to, what allergies you can have, what drugs are in your system – these are some of the things our centers are able to detect using one’s DNA. DNA evidence is also becoming increasingly popular for use in forensic science, at crime scenes and for use in missing person’s investigations.

They will test you, generate an “ID kit” for your children, even inform you of the breed of your pet.

The most interesting thing is that they themselves call it a “genetic horoscope”. I think that’s about correct.

New NSERC grants! Yay! Oh wait.

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Apparently simply not canceling the standard, yearly Discovery Grants awards from NSERC warrants a press release nowadays.

Government of Canada Invests in Research Through Discovery Grants Program

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – April 17, 2009) – The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) announced new grants for Canada’s top researchers through the Discovery Grants Program (DGP), administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

“The Discovery Grants Program supports researchers judged by their peers to be among the very best,” said Minister Goodyear. “Our Government is proud to invest in research and development because it improves the quality of life for all Canadians and builds a stronger, more resilient economy. That’s why Canada’s Economic Action Plan is investing $5.1 billion in science and technology.”

etc.

Not included: the fact that NSERC (and CIHR and SSHRC) are being chopped by $150 million in the next three years.

HT: CanadaResearchFunding.org

Non-coding DNA and night vision.

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Ok, check this out!

Seemingly misplaced DNA acts as lenses

Reporting on Solovei et al (2009)

We show that the nuclear architecture of rod photoreceptor cells differs fundamentally in nocturnal and diurnal mammals. The rods of diurnal retinas possess the conventional architecture found in nearly all eukaryotic cells, with most heterochromatin situated at the nuclear periphery and euchromatin residing toward the nuclear interior. The rods of nocturnal retinas have a unique inverted pattern, where heterochromatin localizes in the nuclear center, whereas euchromatin, as well as nascent transcripts and splicing machinery, line the nuclear border. The inverted pattern forms by remodeling of the conventional one during terminal differentiation of rods. The inverted rod nuclei act as collecting lenses, and computer simulations indicate that columns of such nuclei channel light efficiently toward the light-sensing rod outer segments. Comparison of the two patterns suggests that the conventional architecture prevails in eukaryotic nuclei because it results in more flexible chromosome arrangements, facilitating positional regulation of nuclear functions.

Gary Goodyear’s letter in Nature.

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From tomorrow’s issue of Nature.

Canadian government reaffirms support for science and discovery
Gary Goodyear

Sir,

You report researchers’ concerns about the Canadian government’s support for science in two recent News stories (Nature 457, 646; 2009 and Nature 458, 393; 2009). As Minister of State for Science and Technology, I can say that, despite the global economic situation, the government of Canada remains committed to innovation and discovery. We have increased funding to researchers, both in universities and in the private sector.

In the past three years, for example, we have significantly increased the budgets of federal granting councils, increased scholarships through the Canada Graduate Scholarships Program, and increased the Industrial Research Assistance Program for small and medium-sized businesses. The Budget 2009 announcements include Can$750 million (US$590 million) for the Canada Foundation for Innovation to attract and retain world-leading researchers, and a Can$2-billion infrastructure programme. The government has also put in place two five-year funding agreements with Genome Canada that are worth Can$240 million, to support large-scale, world-class research.

Your readers should therefore rest assured that the government of Canada will continue to fund research for the benefit of all scientists and Canadians.

Also in the next issue:

Genome Canada cancels stem-cell project funding

Genome Canada, a not-for-profit organization, has pulled its support for an international stem-cell consortium.

The International Regulome Consortium, which involves 12 countries and aims to understand the regulatory networks that guide cell behaviour, expected Genome Canada to provide Can$20 million (US$16 million) over 5 years towards the Can$80-million project.

Genome Canada’s head Martin Godbout says that the organization decided not to continue its support after an interim review of the project’s science, management and budget recommended substantial changes. The consortium head, Michael Rudnicki, says that the decision was made because the organization lacked the funds after receiving no money in Canada’s 2009 federal budget (see Nature 457, 646; 2009).

“This is about the conservative government failing to support science,” he says. Rudnicki says he is working to organize funding and revamp the structure so that the consortium can continue.

Understanding natural selection.

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My most recent paper in Evolution: Education and Outreach, which is part of a series on natural selection, is available in preprint form.

Understanding natural selection: essential concepts and common misconceptions
T. Ryan Gregory

Natural selection is one of the central mechanisms of evolutionary change and is the process responsible for the evolution of adaptive features. Without a working knowledge of natural selection, it is impossible to understand how or why living things have come to exhibit their diversity and complexity. An understanding of natural selection also is becoming increasingly relevant in practical contexts, including medicine, agriculture, and resource management. Unfortunately, studies indicate that natural selection is generally very poorly understood, even among many individuals with postsecondary biological education. This paper provides an overview of the basic process of natural selection, discusses the extent and possible causes of misunderstandings of the process, and presents a review of the most common misconceptions that must be corrected before a functional understanding of natural selection and adaptive evolution can be achieved.

Click here to download.