Dengue and humidity, bacteria from Mars, sequencing, and aspartame.
Dengue
Assessing the Relationship between Vector Indices and Dengue Transmission: A Systematic Review of the Evidence – Leigh R. Bowman – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases – “There was little evidence of quantifiable associations between vector indices and dengue transmission that could reliably be used to predict outbreaks. “- Statistical Modeling Reveals the Effect of Absolute Humidity on Dengue in Singapore – Hai-Yan Xu – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases – “Our results showed that AH had a more stable impact on dengue incidence than temperature when virological factors were taken into consideration”
Microbes in Space
Did life exist on Mars 210 million years ago? Giant volcano points to evidence of ‘recent’ bacteria-filled lakes on the red planet – Ellie Zolfagharifard – DailyMail- Host-Microbe Interactions in Microgravity: Assessment and Implications – Jamie S. Foster – Life
Sequencing and bioinformatics
Comparison of next-generation sequencing samples using compression-based distances and its application to phylogenetic reconstruction – Tran N, Chen X – BMC Research Notes- A programmable method for massively parallel targeted sequencing – Erik S. Hopmans – Nucleic Acids Research – “In this study, we report a series of significant improvements and novel applications of this method whereby the surface of a sequencing flow cell is modified in situ to capture specific genomic regions of interest from a sample and then sequenced.”
- GFF-Ex: a genome feature extraction package – Achal Rastogi, Dinesh Gupta – BMC Research Notes
- Implementation of Cloud based Next Generation Sequencing data analysis in a clinical laboratory – Getiria Onsongo – BMC Research Notes
- A method for generating highly multiplexed ChIP-seq libraries – Ethan Ford – BMC Research Notes
Chromosome organization
- Statistical confidence estimation for Hi-C data reveals regulatory chromatin contacts – Ferhat Ay, Timothy L. Bailey, and William Stafford Noble – Genome Research
Arsenic metabolism
Speciation of Arsenic in Saliva Samples from a Population of West Bengal, India – Subhamoy Bhowmick- Environmental Science & Technology – “our study demonstrates that As species in saliva can be an useful tool to predict the individual susceptibility”
Dr. Bik’s Picks
A molecular basis for classic blond hair color in Europeans – Catherine A Guenther – Nature Genetics- “Here we dissect a regulatory region of the KITLG gene (encoding KIT ligand) that is significantly associated with common blond hair color in northern Europeans”- See also: Subtle change in DNA, protein levels determines blond or brunette tresses – Krista Conger – Inside Stanford Magazine
Carpe Carp! Can putting invasive species on the menu contain troublesome animals and plants? – Kerry Grens – The Scientist- Joe Mercola Vs. Aspartame: Who Wins? – Josh Bloom – Science 2.0 – “For more than 30 years, aspartame (aka NutraSweet), has been the target of conspiracy crazies and those who profit from the crazies. “
- Marijuana shows potential in treating autoimmune disease – Science Daily
- World’s best thermometer made from light – Science Daily
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Microbiome Digest - Bik's Picks 