March 2011

The IGSP and the Genome Research and Education Society have launched a new Dinner With Faculty Series for undergraduates. The event is geared to students who are interested in learning more about research at Duke and the role of genetics and genomics in research and society. It's also a great opportunity to simply get to know our faculty or get to know them better.

This month, the series will feature Philip Benfey from the IGSP Center for Systems Biology, Lauren Dame from the IGSP Center for Genome Sciences & Policy and Duke Law and David Goldstein from the Center for Human Genome Variation. The event will continue into April with Charles Gersbach, an IGSP Member in the Biomedical Engineering Department, and Erich Jarvis in Neurobiology.

Students interested in attending should register online. Space is limited, so we will be in touch to confirm your attendance. Full details are available here. Questions should be directed to Supriya Balachander.

Science is Curiosity and Wonder
The fact is that educational strategies are too often driven by student test scores when that does nothing to develop children's natural sense of wonder and curiosity, writes Susanne Haga in a News & Observer op-ed.

Making Use of Cellular Noise
By taking advantage of variation in the way cells respond to the same manipulation, Lingchong You and Joe Nevins have made important insights into the cues that tell cells when to begin making copies of themselves. The original findings were reported in Molecular Cell.

Scientist of the Week: Philip Benfey
Laboratoryequipment.com features a Q & A featuring Philp Benfey and his discovery that a single gene change might produce faster growing grasses for biofuels.

Genomics: Sequence Sharing
A Nature Books and Arts feature highlights two books charting the growth of personal genomics and examining its implications, including Misha Angrist's Here is a Human Being.

Plant's Immune Defense Revs Up for the Morning Attack
Philip Benfey calls the finding that a little mustard plant cranks up its immune system in the morning to prepare for the greatest onslaught of infectious mildew spores a "remarkable discovery" and an "experimental tour de force."

Science News in Brief: Humans
Science News reports on a AAAS presentation by Greg Wray featuring work suggesting that humans may have evolved to supply the brain with energy-storing creatine at the expense of other body parts.

Genome Sequencing Anniversary: My Genome, My Identity, My Health
The potential of the human genome "to enlighten us about ourselves, our relationship to one another, and our place in the scheme of life makes it a distinctive reservoir for ground-breaking science and personal reflection," writes Charmaine Royal in Science.

Genome Sequencing Anniversary: Gene Patents: The Shadow of Uncertainty
"The stakes are high, because present uncertainty over the existence and extent of patent rights casts a shadow over those making decisions about clinical and other applications of gene patents," writes Bob Cook-Deegan in Science.

Survey of US Public Attitudes Toward Pharmacogenetic Testing
In The Pharmacogenomics Journal, Susanne Haga and colleagues find differing interests in pharmacogenomic testing among US adults and recommend that providers clearly discuss with their patients the purpose of testing, alternative testing options and policies to protect patient privacy and confidentiality.

Grassroots Marketing in a Global Era: More Lessons from BiDil
In the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Britt Rusert of Temple University and the IGSP's Charmaine Royal shows how the drugmaker, NitroMed, used the support it had solicited from black advocacy groups and community members to market BiDil as a unique "grassroots" pharmaceutical to the African American community.

Genomic Risk Profiling: Attitudes and Use in Personal and Clinical Care of Primary Care Physicians Who Offer Risk Profiling
In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Susanne Haga, Lori Orlando, Geoff Ginsburg and Alex Cho report survey results showing that familiarity with genomic testing is a key predictor of physician ordering behavior.

Circular Polymerase Extension Cloning for High-Throughput Cloning of Complex and Combinatorial DNA Libraries
In Nature Protocols, Jiayuan Quan and Jingdong Tian describes a sequence-independent approach for cloning complex individual or combinatorial DNA libraries, and for routine or high-throughput cloning of single or multiple DNA fragments.

Microproteomics: Quantitative Proteomic Profiling of Small Numbers of Laser-Captured Cells
In Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, Petra Roulhac, Erich Jarvis and Art Moseley describe a microproteomic platform that uses nanoscale liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry to simultaneously identify and quantify hundreds of proteins from laser capture microdissections of tissue from samples containing as few as 1,000 cells.

The National Institutes of Health will fund studies to conduct state-of-the-art genomic, microbiomic and phenotypic studies of two serious and understudied conditions affecting the lungs: Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and sarcoidosis.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute solicits applications from investigators at institutions that propose to conduct research in heart, lung and blood diseases and bood resources using existing biospecimens stored in the NHLBI Biologic Specimen Repository.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism plans to fund a DNA repository to support research seeking genes related to alcoholism.

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

A selection of upcoming events:

Tuesday, March 1st
Tuesday Seminar Series
Jennifer Wernegreen will present "Genomic Adaptation and Degradation in a Bacterial Endosymbiont."

Thursday, March 3rd
Genomic and Personalized Medicine Forum
Amy Abernethy will present "Informatics enabled cancer registries to support rapid learning healthcare and personalized medicine."

Thursday, March 3rd
Health Career Explorations
Two Duke-affiliated individuals or alums will lead an informal discussion over dinner about a career as an M.D. The series will also cover careers in nursing, government, industry, genetic counseling and science writing. Register here.

Monday, March 7th
Cancer Genomics Seminar
Paul Noble will present "Matrix regulation of severe pulmonary fibrosis."

Thursday, March 10th
Teaching in the Sciences
The IGSP and the Office of Postdoctoral Services will hold a day-long workshop designed to help postdocs develop the skills needed for an undergraduate teaching career. Register here.

Monday, March 14th
Computational Biology Seminar
Amit Singer from Princeton will present "Vector diffusion maps: Theory and Applications."

Wednesday, March 16th
Systems Biology Seminar
Steve Kay from UCSD will present "Large-scale biology approaches to understanding circadian networks."

Friday, March 18th
Science & Society Journal Club
David Parker will lead the discussion. Details TBD.