Sexy Science Rocks Evolution

Tuesday, 12 March 2013

Lamprey HOX cluster - can somebody explain?

Smith et al., Feb. 2013, Nature Genetics

Here is a picture taken from a recent paper (doi:10.1038/ng) on the Lamprey genome. The authors make some interesting assumptions on the initial timing of whole genome duplications in the vertebrate lineage. However looking at this picture I just don't get it. Assuming that co-linearity is not really important (let's call it my own believe for now), but how to construct an ancestral* state of a cluster in this scenario? Or is there a problem with the assembly (could be when looking at the mirs)? Is it weird? Well, could well be, that I don't understand right now.

* "ancestral" is always a very bad word when looking a species we see today, but in this case it is called for by the paper itself I think.

Monday, 11 March 2013

Na danke!

Okay, verstanden, ich sag nichts mehr... :D

It is a disgrace screaming into your face

that the so-called free world is just standing by:

http://goo.gl/8Yh4f

Unternehmen Sie etwas Frau Merkel, Herr Westerwelle, unternehmen Sie etwas!

#Syrien

#Engagez-vous!

https://joindiaspora.com/i/cddd661dd62e

Dear Mr. Wintersmith, really I think it is enough for this year

I mean, it was fun having you around with some snow pre-Christmas. However, it already got a bit too excessive in January. February, well seeing you in Oxford was okay, but actually you could have been a day earlier to help with getting that footy. But now, honestly, it is mid March and this is central Europe, not Lapland or something.