Brief Notes

Chromosome 8 Analysis (Nature 19-January-2006): Genomics is providing some interesting insights into human evolution. Analysis of chromosome 8 shows two regions that appear to be undergoing very rapid evolution as revealed by linkage disequilibrium (linkage among chromosome regions increases over time so disequilibrium indicates recent origin) and synonymous/non-synonymous substitution ratio, that is, the ratio of neutral/protein-changing mutations (the ratio is lower if a gene is undergoing positive selection.) Two genes in these regions are MCPH1, mutations in which cause microencephaly, and so is thought to influence brain size, and CSMD1 which is widely expressed in brain tissue.

Small Interfering RNAs (siRNAs) Successfully Protect Mice Against Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2) (Nature 5-January-2006): SiRNA technology has been around for a while but (as far as I know) has not been very successful as a therapy. In this study, siRNAs were mixed with lipids and appear to have been taken up by epithelial cells and silenced the expression of several HSV-2 genes without inducing an immune system response.