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Volume 10 Issue 5, May 2009

From The Editors

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Research Highlight

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In Brief

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Research Highlight

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In Brief

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Progress

  • Recent advances in genotyping technology have identified or confirmed more than 20 loci that are associated with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These findings add detail to our current understanding of the molecular basis of this complex disease and provide new avenues for investigation.

    • Isaac T. W. Harley
    • Kenneth M. Kaufman
    • Jennifer A. Kelly
    Progress
  • Recent studies have shown that viral oncoproteins induce specific epigenetic changes to stimulate the replication of normally quiescent cells. These findings have implications for understanding the roles of epigenetics in cancer, and in normal biological processes such as differentiation.

    • Roberto Ferrari
    • Arnold J. Berk
    • Siavash K. Kurdistani
    Progress
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Review Article

  • DNA methylation and histone modification are important for regulating gene expression and chromatin structure. New evidence suggests there are multiple levels of crosstalk between these marks. Understanding this crosstalk will be important for elucidating the role of epigenetics in development and disease.

    • Howard Cedar
    • Yehudit Bergman
    Review Article
  • Plant growth is controlled by both intrinsic and environmental signals and is mediated by hormonal signalling. Hormones are important for maintaining and regulating stem cell compartments in postembryonic plants, and current research is revealing many interactions between different hormone pathways.

    • Hanno Wolters
    • Gerd Jürgens
    Review Article
  • Genome-wide association studies have identified many promising links between genetic variants and human traits. However, the steps from the initial identification of associated markers to the reliable validation of the causal variant are long and tortuous, as the authors describe.

    • John P. A. Ioannidis
    • Gilles Thomas
    • Mark J. Daly

    Series:

    Review Article
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Science and Society

  • For several years, large funding bodies have made data sharing a requirement of support for all projects. Although such open access policies have benefited the progress of science, it is worth considering how they are affecting scientific practice.

    • Jane Kaye
    • Catherine Heeney
    • Paula Boddington
    Science and Society
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Opinion

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