Blog Comments

Kinetica Online is pleased to provide direct links to commentaries from our senior editor Dr. Steven Pelech has posted on other blogs sites. Most of these comments appear on the GenomeWeb Daily Scan website, which in turn highlight interesting blogs that have been posted at numerous sites in the blogosphere since the beginning of 2010. A wide variety of topical subjects are covered ranging from the latest scientific breakthroughs, research trends, politics and career advice. The original blogs and Dr. Pelech’s comments are summarized here under the title of the original blog. Should viewers wish to add to these discussions, they should add their comments at the original blog sites.

The views expressed by Dr. Pelech do not necessarily reflect those of the other management and staff at Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation. However, we wish to encourage healthy debate that might spur improvements in how biomedical research is supported and conducted.

Human Origin

Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride

Nicholas Wade at the New York Times highlighted some studies that point to natural selection-driven, relatively recent genetic changes in human groups. S. Pelech points out that selective breeding in a relatively small number of generations can lead to profound changes in the appearance and physiology in animals, and eventually we will likely be genetically engineering human genomes to get rid of deleterious mutations and make further improvements, including adaptation to alien environments and cyborg acclimation. Read More...

The Originality of Humans

Blogger Iddo Friedberg at Byte Size Biology described efforts to identify there are de novo genes found only in humans that contribute the differences between us and our closest primate cousins, including the chimp, orangutan, and rhesus macaque. In a new paper published in PLoS Genetics, around 60 de novo human genes were identified that are expressed in 11 human tissues, and that the testes and the cerebral cortex of humans have the highest expression of these genes. S. Pelech argues that while there may be human genes that are not expressed in our primate cousins, this does not mean that they are "exclusively human" and could be present in our more distant ancestors. He also challenges the concept that the high expression of some of these genes may account for our "greater" intelligence. Read More...