September 2010

Over the next several weeks, there will be a series of special events and presentations sponsored or co-sponsored by the IGSP. The IGSP Center for Systems Biology will hold the 5th Annual Duke Systems Biology Symposiumon campus on Thursday, October 7. Attendance is free and open to all. The focus of this year's symposium is "Systems Biology of Genes and the Environment."

Guest speakers will include Gerald Fink (MIT), Michael Laub (MIT), Ben Lehner (Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona), Elliot Meyerowitz (Caltech), Ralf Sommer (Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology) and Gisela Storz (NIH). Lunch will be provided. Registration is open now.

The IGSP is also co-sponsoring a talk by Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Science Friday, called "Science and the Media: Talking Science in a Science Challenged World." The September 20 event is free, but tickets are required from the University Box Office in the Bryan Center. Stop by the LSRC Hall of Science that same afternoon as undergraduate members of the Genome Research and Education Society (GRES) demo hands-on activities related to the genome sciences as part of a Science Education Showcase. Many of the activities will also be featured at Duke's exhibit at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. on October 23-24.

Mark your calendars for September 22 at 3 p.m., when Sara Katsanis will give a special seminar on "DNA Applications to Deter Human Trafficking and Adoption Fraud" in Schiciano Auditorium. You won't want to miss an IGSP co-sponsored lecture and book signing by Richard Dawkins called "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution" on October 3 at 2 p.m. in Page Auditorium.

The September/October issue of GenomeLIFE will hit the stands soon. This issue will feature symbiotic genomes. You'll also get an update on personal genomics and its uncertain future, a Q&A with IGSP Member Allen Buchanan on the ethics of synthetic biology, and more. If you have ideas for future stories, please send them our way.

Also make note that October will feature a series of events for IGSP Explorations Month. Stay tuned for details.

Scientist: Stem Cell Ruling 'Closes a Door'
In the Herald-Sun, John Chute and other Duke experts comment on a judge's decision that temporarily blocks federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

Scientists Speed Up Evolution, Aim to Sell Technology to Dupont
Misha Angrist comments in a Bloomberg News article about a table-top machine that can generate multiple DNA changes in bacteria all at once.

Popping Cells Surprise Living Circuits Creators
An accidental discovery made by Lingchong You and his colleagues of a circuit they call "ePop" might help increase the efficiency and power of future synthetic biology circuits.

Battle Over Genes Goes to Court
Companies are requesting patents for a gene or a DNA sequence in order to recover the money they have already spent on research. In doing so, they can prevent competitors from conducting research in the same field, Bob Cook-Deegan said in an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Debate: When to Release Genetic Data?
The Scientist features a commentary recently published in Science Translational Medicine by the IGSP's Laura Beskow and Wylie Burke of the University of Washington, which asserts that context matters when deciding whether or when to disclose genomic information to research participants. Read the original commentary here.

Confronting Real Time Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues in the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Consortium
Laura Beskow is an author of a Genetics in Medicine commentary that explores the ethical, legal and social issues being raised by efforts to conduct genomic research through large, multi-site consortia such as the NHGRI-funded Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Consortium.

Deep Sequencing of the Small RNA Transcriptome of Normal and Malignant Human B Cells Identifies Hundreds of Novel MicroRNAs
In the journal Blood, Sandeep Dave and colleagues say that their findings suggest that over a third of the microRNAs present in most cellular types are currently unknown and that these microRNAs may regulate important cellular functions.

Telomere Disruption Results in Non-Random Formation of De Novo Dicentric Chromosomes Involving Acrocentric Human Chromosomes
In PLoS Genetics, Beth Sullivan's lab explored what happens after new dicentric chromosomes (having two centromeres) form in a human cell culture model.

MicroRNA miR-144 Modulates Oxidative Stress Tolerance and Associates with Anemia Severity in Sickle Cell Disease
New findings suggest that microRNAs in red blood cells can serve as genetic modifiers of anemia related to sickle cell disease, according to a report by Ashley Chi and colleagues in Blood.

Simplifying Informed Consent for Biorepositories: Stakeholder Perspectives
As a first step toward creating a simplified biorepository consent form, Laura Beskow and colleagues gathered data from multiple stakeholders, including IRB representatives, researchers and research participants, about what information was most important in making a decision about taking part in a biorepository.

The bHLH Transcription Factor POPEYE Regulates Response to Iron Deficiency in Arabidopsis Roots
Philip Benfey and colleagues report in Plant Cell new findings that provide insight into the ways in which plants acquire and process iron.

Epigenomics of Centromere Assembly and Function
Beth Sullivan and her colleague say in Current Opinion in Cell Biology that new studies that have "deepened our view of what defines a centromere and how it behaves in various genomic and chromatin contexts."

The National Institutes of Health has started two new programs aimed at developing knowledge about newborn screening tests that could lead to new and better treatments for disease.

The National Institutes of Health will fund research into the development of molecular and cellular assays that can measure changes in the function of brain cells.

The National Institutes of Health is leading a program for the validation and field testing of novel biomarkers of response to environmental stressors.

For full details and the latest updates on IGSP seminars and events, see the Events Calendar

A selection of upcoming events:

Wednesday, September 1st
Systems Biology Seminar
The weekly seminar series kicks off in French Family Science Center, Room 4233.

Thursday, September 9th
Genomic and Personalized Medicine Forum
Geoff Ginsburg kicks off the series with an overview of genomic and personalized medicine.

Monday, September 13th
Computational Biology Seminar
Aaron Dinner from the University of Chicago will present "Modeling gene regulatory networks: A crossroads of physics and biology."

Tuesday, September 14th
Genome Biology Seminar
Jeanie Prescott in Laura Rusche's lab will present.

Tuesday, September 16th
Tuesday Seminar Series
Distinguished Lecture: Mark Martindale of the University of Hawaii presents "Developmental changes associated with the radical evolution of animal body plans: The details are in the entrails."

Monday, September 20th
Science Friday's Ira Flatow
The NPR host will discuss "Science and the Media: Talking Science in a Science Challenged World"in an event co-sponsored by the IGSP. Tickets free from the University Box Office.

Monday, September 20th
Science Education Showcase
Undergraduate members of GRES will demo hands-on activities related to the genome sciences.

Wednesday, September 22nd
IGSP Special Seminar
Sara Huston Katsanis will present "DNA Applications to Deter Human Trafficking and Adoption Fraud."

Allen Roses will receive an Award for Public Service from the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy on September 14th.