Ensuring appropriate
target gene selection and maintaining a diversified pre-clinical engine are key aspects of our strategic approach.
Not exact matches
The
target of
selection is normally the individual who carries an ensemble of
genes of certain kinds.
This and other evidence, say study authors Svante Pbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and his colleagues, «strongly suggest that this
gene has been the
target of
selection during recent human evolution.»
«This is a very easy
target for natural
selection,» Wrangham argues, because it probably does not depend on numerous mutations but rather on the tweaking of one or two regulatory
genes that determine the timing of a whole cascade of developmental events.
Most simply, once these
genes, or bits of DNA tied to the
genes (known as markers), have been identified, molecular breeders can quickly
target offspring inheriting the
genes for further development, cutting breeding time and improving the crop's «genetic gain,» the generational improvements made to a crop, like increased height, by human
selection.
This week, researchers report identifying some 1800
genes that appear to have been the
target of natural
selection.
«It is therefore understandable that natural
selection may have favored the relative
targeting of MMR to
genes rather than non-genic regions.
Targets of
selection in the Thoroughbred genome contain exercise - relevant
gene SNPs associated with elite racecourse performance
We furthermore identified a conservative set of 125 potential domestication
targets using four complementary scans for
genes that have undergone positive
selection.
To further characterize HPP - 4382, we screened a
selection of alternative
genes for expression: two markers of endoplasmic - or general cellular stress, HSPA6 and GADD45A, and ICAM1, a
target of NF - B.
There are
genes that, when mutated, cause disorders of language, speech and comprehension, and statistical analyses of our genomes show that these
genes were
targets of Darwinian natural
selection.
Instead, the researchers developed a high - throughput
selection assay, CREATE (Cre REcombinase - based AAV
Targeted Evolution), that allowed them to test millions of viruses in vivo simultaneously and to identify those that were best at entering the brain and delivering
genes to a specific class of brain cells known as astrocytes.
Finally, in order to understand what functions and
genes may be
targeted by natural
selection in the context of OA,
genes involved in the initial phases of shell formation in Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae were identified.
Conclusions / significance: Taken together, the microsatellite and both insecticide resistance
target - site markers provide evidence that in the face of intense
gene flow among populations, disjunction in resistance frequencies arise due to intense local
selection pressures despite an absence of insecticidal control interventions
targeting Culex.
However, the evolution of advanced protein mutants with desired features is strongly dependent on efficiently
targeting the
gene of interest, the type of selective pressure chosen and the
selection scheme allowing recovery of enhanced mutants.
To understand the
selection mechanism behind mutations, network - based studies were used to estimate the importance of a mutated protein compared to non-mutated ones in signalling and protein — protein interaction networks.10, 11,12,13 Proteins mutated in cancer were found having a high number of interacting partners (i.e., a high degree of connectivity), which indicates high local importance.10 Mutated proteins are also often found in the centre of the network, in key global positions, as quantified by the number of shortest paths passing through them if all proteins are connected with each other (i.e., they have high betweenness centrality; hereafter called betweenness).11, 12 Mutated proteins also have high clustering coefficients, which means their neighbours are also neighbours of each other.10, 13 Moreover, neighbourhood analysis of mutated proteins have been previously successfully used to predict novel cancer - related
genes.14, 15 However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has concentrated particularly on the topological importance of first neighbours of mutated proteins in cancer, and their usefulness as drug
targets themselves.
Her published work in the area of
gene - environment interplay emphasizes the translation of basic research findings to help refine the
selection of malleable environmental
targets in the context of prevention and intervention studies.