Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and allied diseases are heterogeneous clinically and genetically. Here we summarize the retinal cell types involved in these diseases, the large number of genes that cause them, and the variety of inheritance patterns that the affected families display. Special consideration is given to unusual inheritance patterns. The aggregate carrier frequency for recessive RP alle...

Java generic types allow a programmer to create parameterized data structures and methods. For instance, a generic Stack type may be used for integers in one instance and for strings in another. Java compiler guarantees in this case that integers and strings are not mixed in the same stack. We study runtime efficiency of a certain inheritance pattern related to Java generic types: narrowing of ...

We investigated 185 families with ALS for evidence of anticipation and mitochondrial inheritance. Although initial analysis demonstrated significant anticipation of age at death between generations in patients with familial ALS, further analysis demonstrated features of regression to the mean, suggesting that the perceived differences are the result of bias. In addition, there was no evidence o...

Long before genetics was established as a scientific discipline, fundamental questions on the nature of heredity in both plants and animals have engaged the human mind. For example, why do offspring share more of the physical characteristics of their parents than they do with unrelated members of their species? Why do members within one species share more traits than they do with members of ano...

The protein-remodeling factor Hsp104 governs inheritance of [PSI+], a yeast prion formed by self-perpetuating amyloid conformers of the translation termination factor Sup35. Perplexingly, either excess or insufficient Hsp104 eliminates [PSI+]. In vitro, at low concentrations, Hsp104 catalyzed the formation of oligomeric intermediates that proved critical for the nucleation of Sup 35 fibrillizat...