Mechanisms underlying human genetic diversity: consequence for antigraft antibody responses

Genetic Diversity: Frameshift Mechanisms

Neurochemical mechanisms underlying responses to psychostimulants.

It is proposed to undertake a study to determine if differences in dopa-minergic reactivity among individuals could explain the variability in response to psychostimulants and to assess the relation of this reactivity to mental state and personality characteristics. Investigation of these relations may provide clues to the association between brain biochemistry and predisposition for drug abuse...

Brain Mechanisms Underlying Human Communication

Human communication has been described as involving the coding-decoding of a conventional symbol system, which could be supported by parts of the human motor system (i.e. the "mirror neurons system"). However, this view does not explain how these conventions could develop in the first place. Here we target the neglected but crucial issue of how people organize their non-verbal behavior to commu...

Genetic Diversity as Consequence of a Microaerobic and Neutrophilic Lifestyle

As a neutrophilic bacterium, Helicobacter pylori is growth deficient under extreme acidic conditions. The gastric pathogen is equipped with an acid survival kit, regulating urease activity by a pH-gated urea channel, opening below pH 6.5. After overcoming acid stress, the bacterium's multiplication site is situated at the gastric mucosa with near neutral pH. The pathogen exhibits exceptional ge...

A Drosophila Genetic Resource of Mutants to Study Mechanisms Underlying Human Genetic Diseases

Invertebrate model systems are powerful tools for studying human disease owing to their genetic tractability and ease of screening. We conducted a mosaic genetic screen of lethal mutations on the Drosophila X chromosome to identify genes required for the development, function, and maintenance of the nervous system. We identified 165 genes, most of whose function has not been studied in vivo. In...