Genetics - Tumblr Posts - Page 3
skin moth :)
i consciously *knew* insects were stupid common and there were a bajillion of them but seeing this account where 9/10 things posted are different insects is making that point more clear to my mind than any "there are a million ants for every human" could ever
String identified: cc ** ct t c a t a a t t g t acct 9/10 tg t a t ct ag tat t ca t ta a "t a a at a" c
Closest match: Monopis laevigella genome assembly, chromosome: 12 Common name: Skin moth
Most calico cats are female because the gene that causes that coloration is X-linked.
The only times they are male is if they’re an XXY male.
Also piebald spotting is technically a genetic disease (but there’s no bad effects or anything - just the white coloration). Apparently some people can also have piebaldism.
~
A letter from a female to a male upon realizing they were left behind when their clan migrated (a poem I wrote earlier, but I thought would be funny in this context)
Neanderthals are dead.
Denisovans are too.
You're the only one left,
So I guess you'll do.
Sure, she’s a little weird looking. But after a few dozen fermented berries, you won’t care (Neanderthal woman reconstruction and photo by University of Zurich).
A paper published in Cell this week describes the results of whole-genome sequencing for five Africans from three hunter/gatherer tribes. The paper reports the discovery of “ancient DNA” sequences in all five Africans. The sequences are previously unknown in modern humans, including other modern Africans, and although the sequences are similar neither to modern humans nor to other human populations — such as Neanderthals — the paper’s authors say the DNA sequences most closely resemble Neanderthals.
One of the paper coauthors, U-Dub genomicist Joshua Akey, told the Washington Post that this was evidence a “sister species” of Neanderthals once roamed Africa (weird because Neanderthals are believed to have originated in Europe and their bones have never been found anywhere in Africa, and Neanderthals were not a species).
It’s not impossible that the gist of what Akey is saying is true — that some population of ancient Europeans went south into Africa and bred with local populations — but the evidence he and his colleagues present is not strong enough to support that claim.
I also disagree with the scientists calling the human source of these ancient DNA sequences a “sister species” of Neanderthals. That suggests the population from which these sequences came were European in origin. We don’t know that.
The New York Times article about the Cell paper is better.
At stake here is how modern humans came into being.
The old idea is that our ancestors originated in Africa, then migrated and replaced populations of human-like (but nonhuman) species wherever they ended up.
The newer, more accepted idea is that new humans (who originated in Africa) actually interbred with older humans wherever they went, and this melding of genes helped produce the world’s many unique groups of modern humans.
Despite what the Post and Times articles suggest, Neanderthals were not a separate species — they were human. And so too could the genetic sequences found in these Africans have come from another group of early humans, perhaps endemic to Africa, as yet unnamed, and roaming through and amidst populations of more modern humans, occasionally interbreeding and mixing new genes with old, old genes with new. Gene flow works both ways, after all.
Amazing science art by Florida artist Megan Lee. Purchase prints here
six word poem 4/26
Prompt: “Your work is spellbinding, Six. If it wouldn’t trouble you much, would you please pen a poem about the scope of the Earth. About how we’re all different, yet inherently the same in a biological sense.”
Forty-six chromosomes spawned seven billion misfits
A monument at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics to all lab rats used for DNA research (via)
"no homo" I whisper as I look at my garden of pea plants. The progeny had expressed a 1:2:1 ratio of phenotypes. I am Gregor Mendel.
Students Build the First Eukaryotic Chromosome from Scratch
In March undergraduate students in Johns Hopkins University’s Build a Genome course announced they had made a yeast chromosome from scratch—and history, too. It is the first time anyone has synthesized the chromosome of a complex organism, a landmark achievement in the field of synthetic biology. It is also a triumph for the movement known as DIY biology.
Read more via Scientific American
Creative representation of the human karyotype Via Scientific Illustration for the Research Scientist | somersault18:24
source
This has come up on my dash at least 3 times and every time I think “why no polydactyl cats?” For fans of toe beans who are unaware, polydactyly is the increased amount of paw per cat. It’s a fairly common abnormality in cats in North America and Great Britain and very rarely causes any sort of problems. It is somewhat strange and very adorable. Observe:
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Bonus polydactyl pawprints:
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Cyclop´s genealogy could be it´s own field of study.
Of what I know (I´m not a professional, nor academic of any short, I´m just a man).
First I though of convergent evolution, but that wasn´t close, then I though in genetics.
Cyclops seem to see like a by product of divine procreation, like a recessive allele. Of what I´m saying is they are fewer than semi-divine mortals or normal deities, but are far more prominent in mayor divine-minor divine relations, most notably nymphs.
But the first where the ones borned of Gea or Gaia and Uranus, the ones that forged Zeus´s lighting, Poseidon trident (acknowledge by the picture, hahaha) and Hades´s helmet. These were the first of them.
Then the others are the ones we know, products of Olympian-divine procreation, like the ones of Poseidon and the bunch, who act the same.
They´re said to be male but because we don´t see female Cyclops or not mentioned, maybe they don´t reproduce sexually, like a hybrid unable to procreate like the asses, mules and the sorts, so their population is maintained by gods procreation. Also knowing males get cyclopsed (hahaha) it might be related with the X chromosome and being recessive XO, Xo, So there´s the possibility and XoXo being a lethal combination so we don´t get female cyclops. :D
So as the Hero´s age came to an end, there wasn´t a renovation of individuals, dwindling their population by normal death or killed, ending a one prosperous society fruit of divine descent outcast of the world their fathers ruled.
So as we can see it maybe is related to the X chromosome but because we don´t know we´re left with strings and posts but nothing more, Also god´s are not people they are stories so genetics is not usually applicable, but these being a case it lends quite well is surprising.
not even gonna draw this any better i don't even. the . the joke doesn't justify it
if anyone ever wanted more reason to resent arthropod geneticists, there’s a single gene in a bug-infectious bacteria that controls the production of toxins which destroy the immune system and hydraulic muscle capacity in insects within 24 hours of infection. this gene is called the “mcf” gene.
wanna take a guess what that’s short for?
this fucking disease that is basically arthropod rabies depends on a gene called makes caterpillars floppy.
I hate linguistic anthropology. Why? One of the most influential experiments in linguistic anthropology involved teaching a chimp asl. One of the most influential linguistics is named Noam Chomsky. You know what the chimp’s name was?
Nim Chimpsky.
Fucking monkey pun.
And this is in textbooks, in documentaries, everywhere. And everyone just IGNORES THIS GOD AWFUL PUN cause of how important the experiment was. But
BUT LOOK AT THIS SHIT. FUCKING NIM CHIMPSKY. I HATE THIS WHOLE FIELD.
Ok so I'm taking a genetics class right now and in lab we've been given fruit flies with different mutations that we need to breed over the course of the semester.
Now, first thing I learned: fruit flies don't eat fruit. They eat yeast. They eat the yeast on fermenting fruit. They can not actually eat fruit. Their name is a lie.
Secondly, one of the two mutant lines I was given to cross are flies with the apterous mutation, aka they're wingless. I feel so bad for them, they can't do the one thing they're named for, they cant fly.
And then I realized. My fruit flies are in truth insects that eat yeast and can't fly.
Anyways, I've been calling them my yeast crawls and I am their god now.
THIS IS WHY WE HATE THE GENETICISTS
BECAUSE THEY PULL THIS BULLSHIT REGULARLY
Scientists identify substance that may have sparked life on Earth
Based on laboratory studies, Rutgers scientists say one of the most likely chemical candidates that kickstarted life was a simple peptide with two nickel atoms they are calling "Nickelback"
Bro if we solve abiogenesis and it gets named after Nickelback I am going to have an aneurysm
I spent 20 whole minutes on this, laughing like a maniac the whole time.
opinion on crispr/cas9 + favorite application of it?
Oughhhh it has literally been so long since I read up on CRISPR. I used to have a much more detailed understanding of the technique, but I don't really deal with genetics on much more than surface level these days, so I'm very behind on the state of that field.
Generally speaking, I think it's a great tool... for now. So far I haven't heard of any major issues with it; scientists can add or remove any section of a cell's genome with little to no additional complications observed. It's admittedly pretty ingenious and has catapulted the entire field of genetics forward by decades (if not centuries). But let's not forget that CRISPR is really one of our earliest direct genetic engineering tools! As time progresses we're bound to discover and/or invent far more sophisticated and even safer methods of genetic tinkering.
“Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised. Their flu vaccine will also likely be delivered in the form of a spray, as many people have an aversion to needles. “Respiratory infections move through the nose, so a spray might be an easier delivery system,” Hai said. Additionally, the researchers say there is little chance of a virus mutating to avoid this vaccination strategy. “Viruses may mutate in regions not targeted by traditional vaccines. However, we are targeting their whole genome with thousands of small RNAs. They cannot escape this,” Hai said. Ultimately, the researchers believe they can ‘cut and paste’ this strategy to make a one-and-done vaccine for any number of viruses. “There are several well-known human pathogens; dengue, SARS, COVID. They all have similar viral functions,” Ding said. “This should be applicable to these viruses in an easy transfer of knowledge.””
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Vaccine breakthrough means no more chasing strains
This is HUGE. This will fundamentally change how we get inoculated.
