Key Findings of the Study:

1. Alu Insertion and Tail Loss:
   The researchers discovered an Alu-mediated genetic change in a common ancestor of modern apes and humans. This change disrupted the normal function of a gene involved in tail development, leading to the suppression of tail formation.

2. Gene Disruption Mechanism:
   The Alu insertion was found within a regulatory region of the TBXT gene (also known as T or Brachyury), which is crucial for tail development in vertebrates. This insertion likely altered the gene's expression patterns, leading to tail reduction over evolutionary time.

3. Functional Evidence from Model Organisms:
   To test their hypothesis, the researchers introduced similar genetic modifications in mice. The modified mice exhibited shortened or absent tails, supporting the idea that the identified mutation played a role in tail loss in hominoids.

4. Evolutionary Implications:
   The findings suggest that small, random genomic changes—such as transposable element insertions—can have profound effects on body morphology. This study provides evidence that mobile DNA elements (like Alu) can drive major evolutionary transitions.

5. Relevance to Human Evolution:
   Understanding the genetic basis of tail loss helps in reconstructing the evolutionary history of hominins (the lineage that includes humans and our extinct relatives). It also sheds light on how genetic variations contribute to anatomical diversity among primates.

Significance of the Study:

This research highlights the role of transposable elements in shaping evolutionary traits and provides a concrete genetic explanation for a defining characteristic of humans and great apes. It also demonstrates how mutations in regulatory regions of developmental genes can lead to significant anatomical changes.

More at https://www.uibk.ac.at/limno/personnel/stelzer/index.html.en#research

Website: www.actrec.gov.in; Ph: 27405000

No. ACTREC/Advt./ 66 /2014 23rd December, 2014
Research Associate

International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) - India Project (IRB Project No. 3 A/c. No. 2408)

Dr. Rajiv Sarin

Duration of the Project: One year Extendable up to Three years.

Consolidated Salary: Rs. 42,000/- p.m.

Application last date: 8th January, 2015.

Interview Date & Time: 21st January, 2015, at 11.00 a.m.

Venue: Conference Room, 3rd floor, Khanolkar Shodhika, ACTREC.

Essential Qualifications and Experience:

Ph.D (any branch of Life Sciences)

The candidate must have at least one year experience after Ph.D., preferably in Genomics and Molecular Biology.

Candidates fulfilling these requirements should pre register themselves by sending their application in the prescribed format with recent CV and contact details of 2 referees by e-mail to icgc@actrec.gov.in latest 8th January, 2015 by 10.00 a.m.

Candidates shortlisted for the interview will be intimated by email on or before 9th January, 2015.

The interviews would be held on 21st January 2015 and will be only for the pre registered candidates who have been shortlisted.
No T.A./D.A. will be admissible for attending the interview.

At the time of Interview the candidate should bring original certificates along with CV with contact details of 2 referees and submit the photocopies (attested) of the certificates, with a recent passport size photograph.

Advertisement: www.actrec.gov.in/data%20files/2014/Walk-in-Research-Fellow-26-12-14.doc

Reach out to careers@medgenome.com with your detailed profile.

For example ... contig-stats.pl is a Perl script that will automatically describe features of a sequence assembly.

http://milkweedgenome.org/?q=scripts

Address of the bookmark: http://milkweedgenome.org/?q=scripts

http://www.tau.ac.il/~itaymay/cp/chromEvol/about.html

Address of the bookmark: http://www.tau.ac.il/~itaymay/cp/chromEvol/downloads.html

You can find the detail of reconstructed data at http://bioinfo.konkuk.ac.kr/DESCHRAMBLER/

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/jkimlab/DESCHRAMBLER