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Cover art: Xelix By Peggy Dembicer http://www.peggydembicer.com Loom woven paper from the cover of a Xerox Corporation promotional pamphlet,novelty yarn warp, 32" x 18", 2000. From the exhibition "Culture and DNA" at the Silvermine Guild Galleries http://www.silvermineart.org
Recent studies and a new database indicate that investment in genetics could bring practical health benefits to the states of the Eastern Mediterranean.
A new study involving a population of 1,904 heterogeneous mice bred for 50 generations, phenotyped for 101 traits and genotyped for 13,459 SNPs, presents the most comprehensive analysis thus far of complex traits in mice. The work represents a landmark resource for the mouse genetics community and offers important insights into the genetic architecture of complex traits.
Systematic mapping of genetic interactions for Caenorhabditis elegans genes involved in signaling pathways implicated in human disease reveals a network of 350 interactions. The topology of this network resembles that mapped previously in yeast, reinforcing the idea that similar networks may underlie the genetic basis of complex human disease.
A new study in mice shows that genetic variants underlying a previously mapped lung cancer susceptibility locus can have opposing effects on cancer risk depending on whether an oncogenic somatic mutation at the same locus subsequently arises in cis or in trans. These findings illustrate the complex interplay between genetic background and somatic events in contributing to cancer risk.
The shape of leaves is highly variable. A new study shows that changes in plant homeobox genes seem to underlie some of the variation, although a major regulator of those genes remains unchanged.
Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is an autosomal recessive condition of progressive encephalopathy of early childhood, very similar to congenital viral infections. Two new papers identify four genes mutated in AGS and implicate the processing of DNA and RNA by-products in its pathogenesis.