According to a preliminary report posted on December 19 by the COG-UK Consortium scientists, as of December 15, 1,623 variant genomes have been sequenced. In a December 21 tweet, COG-UK Consortium said that it added 2,963 more genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2, of which 942 (32%) belong to the new variant. The Consortium intends to sequence 20,000 more SARS-CoV-2 genomes in the next two weeks to further ascertain the spread of the variant.

There is no clear proof, at least not yet, that it does cause severe pandemic. But there is a justification for seriously taking the possibility. Another coronavirus lineage in South Africa has acquired one specific mutation that is also present in B.1.1.7. This variant is increasingly spreading across South Africa's coastal regions. And doctors have observed in preliminary research that individuals infected with this variant bear a higher viral load-a higher concentration of the virus in their upper respiratory tract. In many viral diseases, this is associated with more severe symptoms.

In addition to the knowledge of the human genome, all these genomes, widely sampled across mammals, can be used to research how particular organisms respond to different conditions. Some otters, for example, have a thick, water-resistant shell, and some rodents, but not all, have adapted to hibernation. These animal traits will help us to understand human traits, such as metabolic diseases.

With climate change and more animal ecosystems being threatened by human activity, the protection of endangered species is becoming increasingly important. Scientists have historically researched several people in various populations of a species to understand the genetic variation that occurs in that species. This is important for understanding how particular species can be protected. In this study, animals on the Red List of Endangered Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature had fewer differences in their genomes, which is consistent with their endangered status.

Ref @ A comparative genomics multitool for scientific discovery and conservation https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2876-6

 Data at http://zoonomiaproject.org/

See the new IgBLAST manual on the NCBI GitHub site for more information on setting up and running IgBLAST.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at blast-help@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Nature conducted a poll ran in June and July, and more than 7,600 people responded from across 19 disciplines. The sample, a self-selecting group scattered over 93 countries, is not fully representative globally, because the overwhelming majority of respondents are in Europe and North America. But the picture that emerges is undoubtedly concerning. 

Six out of ten respondents think the pandemic has worsened their career prospects, and one in four feel that their supervisors have not done enough to support them during the pandemic. Moreover, 23% of respondents said that they have sought help for anxiety or depression caused by their work, and a further 26% would like such help but have not yet sought it. This is in line with other findings of pandemic-related mental ill-health.

Reference:

https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-020-02541-9/d41586-020-02541-9.pdf

DBT-Junior Research Fellowship (DBT-JRF) in Biotechnology (2020)

BIOTECHNOLOGY ELIGIBILITY TEST (BET) 2020

Applications are invited from bonafide Indian citizens, residing in India for award of “DBT-Junior Research Fellowship” (DBT-JRF) for pursuing research in frontier areas of Biotechnology and Life Sciences. The candidates will be selected through “Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET)”. Based on the performance in BET, two categories of merit list will be prepared (Category-I and Category-II). Government of India norms for reservation will be followed for selection. Candidates selected under category-I will be eligible to avail fellowship under the programme. These will be tenable at any University/Institute in India where the selected candidate registers for PhD Programme. Candidates selected under Category-II will be eligible to be appointed in any DBT sponsored project and avail fellowship from the project equivalent to NET/GATE, subject to selection through institutional selection process. There will be no binding on Principal Investigators of DBT sponsored projects to select JRF for their project from category-II list. Selection in category-II will not entitle student for any fellowship from DBT-JRF programme.

ELIGIBILITY

Qualification: M.Sc./ M.Tech./ M.V.Sc. or equivalent degree/ Integrated BS-MS/ B.E./ B.Tech. in any discipline of Biotechnology, M.Sc./ M.Tech. Bioinformatics/ Computational Biology, students admitted under DBT supported Postgraduate Teaching Programs. M.Sc. Life Science/ Bioscience/ Zoology/ Botany/ Microbiology/ Biochemistry/ Biophysics and Masters in Allied areas of Biology/Life Sciences. Candidates appearing in the final year examination are also eligible to apply.

Marks: Minimum 60% marks for General, EWS & OBC category and 55% for SC/ ST/ Differently abled in aggregate (or equivalent grade).

Age Limit: Upto 28 years as on the last date of application for General & EWS category. Age relaxation of up to 5 years (33 years) for SC/ ST/ Differently Abled/ women candidates and upto 3 years (31 years) for OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) candidates.

For detailed procedure for filling the application form, payment of application fee and uploading of required documents/ certificates in the prescribed format, please visit: http://rcb.res.in/BET2020. A non-refundable and non-transferable application fee of Rs. 1000/-is payable online by General/ OBC/ EWS candidates and Rs 250/- by SC/ ST/ Differently abled candidates.

IMPORTANT DATES

During the first phase of ENCODE, published in 2007, microarray-based technologies were used to detect regions associated with transcription factors, certain histone modifications and open chromatin within a pre-specified 1% of the human genome.

ENCODE’s second phase saw a switch to sequencing-based technologies, the addition of new assay types and the analysis of functional elements genome-wide, described in a collection of research articles in 2012.

The Encyclopedia paper of ENCODE 3, published in Nature, gives an overview of the various assays that were performed in human and mouse cell lines and tissues and describes a Registry of human and mouse candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs).

More at https://www.nature.com/immersive/d42859-020-00027-2/index.html