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This is an issue edsumm for 13. Identification of the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum in a marine sedimentary sequence shows that sea surface temperatures near the North Pole increased from roughly 18 degrees Celsius to over 23 degrees Celsius — such warm values imply the absence of ice and thus exclude the influence of ice-albedo feedbacks on this Arctic warming.
Common gene variants influencing transcript levels can now be reproducibly identified by genome-wide screens. Some of the same variants contribute to clinical traits.
Optimally positioned crossovers facilitate the proper segregation of chromosomes in meiosis. A new study in yeast implicates the spindle checkpoint in the rescue of crossovers that occur too distant from the centromere, possibly shedding light on the origins of nondisjunction in higher organisms.
The growing list of known microRNAs is only as useful as our ability to identify the mRNA targets they control. A new study stresses the role of messenger RNA structure in microRNA target recognition and suggests that binding of the RNA-induced silencing complex is largely controlled by the thermodynamics of RNA-RNA interactions.
MAGEL2 is located in a cluster of imprinted genes on human chromosome 15 that is implicated in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). A new study shows that mice deficient for this gene show altered behavioral rhythmicity that resembles some features of PWS.
A new study finds that copy number variation in the salivary amylase gene in humans is associated with amylase concentration in saliva and average starch consumption in populations. This provides a striking example of the role of copy number variants (CNVs) in adaptive evolution, and of diet in producing selective pressures.