Last month, DNA sequencing in the UK got a boost with the launch of the Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) in the eastern city of Norwich. The £13.5 million ($22 million) facility hosts biologists and bioinformaticians who will perform genome sequencing on plants, animals and microbes, as well as develop new bioinformatics tools for handling the data, which will be distributed via the European Bioinformatics Institute. In the future, TGAC will build commercial partnerships and offer doctoral and mid-career sequencing and bioinformatics training. Continue reading Sequencing push brings new UK genome analysis center
Tag Archives: Biology
Human-ape links heard in laughter
Human laughter is rooted in the emotional displays of the common ancestor we share with apes, suggests an analysis of the vocalizations of tickled juvenile apes and humans. Continue reading Human-ape links heard in laughter
Experimental design could reduce need for animal tests
Researchers could cut the use of animals in their experiments by changing the way they analyze their results, according to a study by scientists based in Germany and the United States.
In a typical animal experiment, researchers will try to standardize factors such as the animals’ genetic backgrounds and laboratory conditions to make it as easy as possible for other researchers to reproduce their results later. Now, a team led by Hanno Würbel at the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany, has reanalyzed a study of mouse behaviour by taking such genetic and environmental variations into account, and they got fewer spurious results, or false positives, than the initial study.
Duct Tape for the Brain
Kirsten Timmons was navigating a frozen overpass one night when a passing car skidded out of control and slammed into her vehicle. As her car came to a stop, Timmons’s head probably snapped around its own axis, decelerating sharply when it struck the seat-belt holder next to her. Continue reading Duct Tape for the Brain