by Bernard R. Baum  and Douglas A. Johnson

Received: 07 January 2022;  Published: 24 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2202152

We have investigated the utility of the 5S nrDNA, a conserved, multicopy gene family organized into tandem repeats as a tool for genetic analyses in a wide variety of genera. Previous work in the Triticeae (Poaceae) demonstrated that the prior identification of unit classes based upon the 5S nrDNA NTS, greatly facilitates analysis. We investigated the potential of defining unit classes in other plant genera and several animal genera as a step towards future phylogenetic analyses. Our results demonstrate that in in [...]

by Masahiro Sato  , Issei Saitoh  , Yuki kiyokawa  , Eri Akasaka  , Shingo Nakamura  , Satoshi Watanabe  and Emi Inada

Received: 21 January 2022;  Published: 11 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2202151

Adipose tissue is distributed throughout the body as fat depots. The amount of adipose tissue increases with age. In mice, epididymal fat depots in males and gonadal fat depots in females are associated with the reproductive system. Regarding fat depots in females, the adipose tissue under the skin can be easily exposed via surgery when the ovary, oviduct, and uterus are pulled out and exposed. As handling adipose tissue is relatively easy, adipocytes might be good targets for genetic manipulation (including gene d [...]

by Anand Kumar  , Ningthai Longmei  , Pardeep Kumar  and Prashant Kaushik

Received: 25 July 2021;  Published: 21 March 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201150

Maize is consumed as a food and used as an industrial product in the form of starch, pharmaceuticals, alcoholic beverages, oil, cosmetics, and textiles. In ancient times, landraces were more popular due to the presence of high genetic variability, resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, and the heterogeneous nature of maize; however, it has been replaced by improved and uniform cultivars with a higher yield. Modern maize has more homogeneity that enhances its vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. Thus, we [...]

by Carine Vassy  , Laurence Brunet  and Christine Noiville

Received: 02 September 2021;  Published: 25 February 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201149

This article examines the regulation of the screening of fetal abnormalities in France before and after the implementation of the new technique of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in 2013. In addition, this article evaluates the effectiveness of the regulatory framework in addressing the ethical and social issues raised by this technique from a legal and sociological perspective. The analysis reveals that the regulations, consistent with that applied to other prenatal screening techniques, fail to take proper a [...]

by OBM Genetics Editorial Office

Received: 17 February 2022;  Published: 22 February 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201148

by Junhyeong T. Park  , Junseong A. Park  , Igor F. Tsigelny  and Valentina L. Kouznetsova

Received: 07 December 2021;  Published: 13 February 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201147

The occurrence of various mutation patterns, such as changes in the DNA sequence and the loss of some sequences, is called a “mutational signature,” and they represent the molecular fingerprints that exist for the type of mutation occurring in a specific gene. Our study elucidates the correlations of mutational signatures in frequently mutated cancer genes with general mutational signatures previously found for different cancers. We hypothesized that the top twenty most frequently mutated genes (MFMG) of a cancer t [...]

by Jeffrey P. Brosco  , Talia Holzman Castellands  and Adriane Gelpi

Received: 22 August 2021;  Published: 21 January 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201146

Investigating the historical origins of a well-accepted health program across a region, such as newborn screening in Latin America, has the potential to reveal the role of historically-specific drivers in shaping national health policy. We reviewed published reports on NBS in Latin America and interviewed newborn screening experts with experience in the region. We found trends suggesting that the decrease in infant mortality may be a prerequisite to investing in nationwide screening for rarer conditions. We also no [...]

by Niccolo Caldararo

Received: 19 October 2021;  Published: 11 January 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201145

The evolution of hominins, members of the zoological tribe Hominini, has been a much-studied topic, and the construction of phylogenetic trees has been the key method in molecular evolutionary studies. How scientists determine the phylogenetic trees are governed by the assumptions they place on the construction of similarities and differences in morphological traits, the differences in the number of base pairs in the genomes, and the number of similar gene clusters that code for traits (haplotypes) or are error seq [...]

by OBM Genetics Editorial Office

Received: 05 January 2022;  Published: 06 January 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2201144

The editors of OBM Genetics would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2021. We greatly appreciate the contribution of expert reviewers, which is crucial to the journal's editorial process. We aim to recognize reviewer contributions through several mechanisms, of which the annual publication of reviewer names is one. Reviewers receive a voucher entitling them to a discount on their next LIDSEN publication and can download a certificate of recognition direct [...]

by Sean J. O’Sullivan

Received: 17 June 2021;  Published: 17 November 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2104143

Advances in clinical psychiatry have been less than hoped for relative to the achievements in neuroscience. However, developments in neuromodulation and psychedelic therapy are promising. The efficacy of such treatments and canonical pharmacotherapies benefit from genetics and personalized medicine. Moreover, recent studies on the perturbation of transcription, including chromatin remodeling, in mental illness emphasized the importance of single-cell qPCR as an investigatory method that bolstered psychiatry. This t [...]