Ancient DNA comes of age, but still has some teenage problems

Ancient DNA Comes of Age

Feature T he study of genetic material from ancient specimens was, in its early years, dominated by a race to sequence DNA from extinct species like the dodo and the woolly mammoth. Now that the supply of these crowd-pleasing curiosities has run dry, scientists are starting to ask new questions of ancient DNA (aDNA) that are revealing how the genetic make-up of prehistoric populations changed t...

Proper Authentication of Ancient DNA Is Still Essential

Santiago-Rodriguez et al. [1] report on the putative gut microbiome and resistome of Inca and Italian mummies, and find that Italian mummies exhibit higher bacterial diversity compared to the Inca mummies.[...].

Regional Experience of Abacavir: Valuable but Still has Unanswered Question

Glyceroneogenesis comes of age.

Glyceroneogenesis is a generally ignored metabolic pathway that occurs in adipose tissues and liver of mammalian species. This short review highlights a series of recent discoveries showing that glyceroneogenesis is important in lipid homeostasis.

Immunosenescence comes of age

Introduction Ageing of the immune system (immunosenescence) contributes to the increased susceptibility of the elderly to infectious disease and to the poor outcome of vaccination. Defence against pathogens is compromised mainly because of changes in adaptive immunity mediated by T and B lymphocytes; however, all components of the immune system are affected (Fig 1). Dissecting the crucial alter...