Scientists have reconstructed the genome of an ancient human who lived nearly 5,700 years ago in Southern Denmark from the birch pitch- an ancient tar-like substance.

By sequencing the sample, researchers not only discovered the ancient human DNA but also microbial DNA reflecting the oral microbiome of the person who chewed the pitch, along with plant and animal DNA that could be the recent meal she might have consumed.

The DNA sample is comparable in quality to well-preserved teeth and skull bones. The DNA suggests that the chewer was a female, most likely with dark skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.

Check out the detail at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947

The Shenzhen company says the low cost will be possible with an “extreme” DNA sequencing system it plans to offer that is capable of decoding the genomes of 100,000 people a year.

Ref: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615289/china-bgi-100-dollar-genome/

Genomes, and in particular differences between them, are a crucial source of information to understand evolution and biology in general. They provide a record of the evolutionary past of populations, their relatedness patterns, their demography, and their adaptations.

More at https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/staff/hannes-svardal/svardal-lab/

Address of the bookmark: https://training.galaxyproject.org/training-material/topics/variant-analysis/tutorials/non-dip/tutorial.html

The NCBI Datasets datasets command line tools are datasets and dataformat .

Use datasets to download biological sequence data across all domains of life from NCBI.

Use dataformat to convert metadata from JSON Lines format to other formats.

Conda download:

https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/ncbi-datasets-cli

Buld Download

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/builder/?tax_id=29979

Address of the bookmark: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/docs/v1/quickstarts/command-line-tools/

Install

pip install genomenotebook

How to use

Create a simple genome browser with a search bar. The sequence appears when zooming in.

import genomenotebook as gn

g=gn.GenomeBrowser(genome_path, gff_path, init_pos=10000)
g.show()

Tracks can be added to visualize your favorite genomics data. See Examples for more !!!!

Address of the bookmark: https://dbikard.github.io/genomenotebook/

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.

Kindly log on to conference website http://rgcb.res.in/IACR2014 for further details and timely updates and registration. We shall truly appreciate if the same be circulated among your friends, scholars and students encouraging them to participate in the meet.

http://210.212.237.38/iacrconference/

Ever since a monk called Mendel started breeding pea plants we've been learning about our genomes. In 1953, Watson, Crick and Franklin described the structure of the molecule that makes up our genomes: the DNA double helix. Then, in 2001, scientists wrote down the entire 3-billion letter code contained in the average human genome. Now they're trying to interpret that code; to work out how it's used to make different types of cells and different people. The ENCODE project, as it's called, is the latest chapter in the story of you. To read the ENCODE research papers and more, visit http://www.nature.com/ENCODE