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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