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Join commentators Dave Micklos and Jan Witkowski for a lively discussion of DNA in the news
from world-renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory!

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DNA Today Archive:

From dinosaur DNA to monkey's uncles, we've stored previous episodes here.


Episode 6: The Neanderthal Genome Project

Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute joins Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Dave Micklos to discuss the Neanderthal genome project.

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Duration: 9 minutes, 50 seconds

POSTED May 21, 2009



Episode 5: Genome Scans Pay Off

Scans of the entire human genome turn up genes involved in common diseases.

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Duration: 3 minutes, 28 seconds

A number of recent studies have identified genes involved in common disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Researchers used gene chips to scan hundreds of thousands of DNA variations across thousands of individuals to find changes associated with the disorders.

“A Common Variant in the FTO Gene is Associated with Body Mass Index and Predisposes to Childhood and Adult Obesity” by Timothy M. Frayling and others, Science (volume 316), May 11, 2007, pages 889-894.

“ A Common Allele on Chromosome 9 Associated with Coronary Heart Disease” by Ruth McPherson and others, Sciencexpress May 3, 2007 (published online 10.1126/science.1142447).

“ A Common Variant on Chromosome 9p21 Affects the Risk of Myocardial Infarction” by Anna Helgodottir and others, Sciencexpress May 3, 2007 (published online 10.1126/science.1142842).
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“ Genome-Wide Association Analysis Identifies Loci for Type 2 Diabetes and Triglyceride Levels” by Diabetes Genetics Initiative of Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Lund University, and Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Sciencexpress April 26, 2007 (published online 10.1126/science.1142358).

“ A Genome-Wide Association Study of Type 2 Diabetes in Finns Detects Multiple Susceptibility Variants” by Laura J. Scott and others, Sciencexpress April 26, 2007 (published online 10.1126/science.1142382).

“ Replication of Genome-Wide Association Signals in U.K. Samples Reveals Risk Loci for Type 2 Diabetes” by Eleftheria Zeggini and others, Sciencexpress April 26, 2007 (published online 10.1126/science.1142364).

POSTED May 18, 2007




Episode 4: No Escape for GM Pollen?
Little chance that genetic modifications to chloroplasts are transferred by pollen to wild plants.

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Duration: 3 minutes, 29 seconds

Critics of genetically modified (GM) crops worry that herbicide resistance genes could be transferred to wild plants in pollen blown from a field of GM plants. Now researchers have shown that GM genes carried in maternally inherited chloroplasts are rarely transferred through pollen to other plants.

"Determining the Transgene Containment Level Provided by Chloroplast Transformation" by Stephanie Ruf, Daniel Karcher, and Ralph Bock, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (volume 104), April 24, 2007, pages 6998-7002.

POSTED May 10, 2007




Episode 3: The Real Monkey's Uncle

Marmoset monkeys sometimes father their twin brother's children with DNA they swapped as embryos.

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Duration: 3 minutes, 19 seconds

Marmosets are almost always born as fraternal twins that share a common placenta. Cells exchanged during embryonic development make each sibling a "chimera" with a mixture of its own and its sibling's cells. DNA testing recently showed that about half of male marmosets also carry a mixture of sperm cells, so a marmoset baby can actually inherit its uncle's DNA from its own father.

"Germ-line Chimerism and Paternal Care in Marmosets (Cllithrix kuhlii)" by C.N. Ross, J.A. French, and G. Orti, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (volume 104), April 10, 2007, pages 6278-6282.

POSTED May 3, 2007




Episode 3: The Real Monkey's Uncle

Marmoset monkeys sometimes father their twin brother's children with DNA they swapped as embryos.

Watch this episode now!
Duration: 3 minutes, 19 seconds

Marmosets are almost always born as fraternal twins that share a common placenta. Cells exchanged during embryonic development make each sibling a "chimera" with a mixture of its own and its sibling's cells. DNA testing recently showed that about half of male marmosets also carry a mixture of sperm cells, so a marmoset baby can actually inherit its uncle's DNA from its own father.

"Germ-line Chimerism and Paternal Care in Marmosets (Cllithrix kuhlii)" by C.N. Ross, J.A. French, and G. Orti, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (volume 104), April 10, 2007, pages 6278-6282.

POSTED May 3, 2007




Episode 2: BIG DOG, little dog

Size differences between dogs come down to a single change in a single gene.

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Duration: 3 minutes

All dogs are members of the same species, and each characteristic breed is a result of selective breeding by humans. Now, scientists have found that the extreme differences in dog size – between say a Chihuahua and Great Dane – are largely determined by a single change in a single gene.

"A Single IGF1 Allele is a Major Determinant of Small Size in Dogs" by Nathan B. Sutter and others, Science (volume 316), April 6, 2007, pages 112-115.

POSTED April 25, 2007




Episode 1: Dino Protein is for the Birds

Organic material from a T. rex bone shows that birds are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs.

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Duration: 3 minutes, 25 seconds

In echoes of Jurassic Park, organic material has for the first time been recovered from a dinosaur fossil. Protein fragments from a 68 million year old T. rex bone most closely match samples from a chicken, providing further evidence of the evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

"Analyses of Soft Tissue from Tyrannosaurus rex Suggest the Presence of Protein" by Mary Higby Schweitzer and others, Science (volume 316), April 13, 2007, pages 277-280.

"Protein Sequences from Mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex Revealed by Mass Spectrometry" by John M. Asara and others, Science (volume 316), April 13, 2007, pages 280-285.

POSTED April 20, 2007