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Jesse Boehm and Todd Golub call for an international effort to establish >10,000 cancer cell line models as a community resource. Cancer cell line factories will facilitate the creation of a cancer dependency map, connecting cancer genomics to therapeutic dependencies.
Directed evolution uses laboratory-based evolution to enhance the properties of biomolecules, primarily to generate proteins with optimized or novel activities. This Review discusses the diverse range of technologies for the directed evolution of proteins, particularly methods for generating diversity in the gene library and approaches for screening and selecting for variants with desired properties. The relative strengths and limitations of these approaches are highlighted to guide readers to appropriate strategies.
Sequencing genomes of ancient specimens, including human ancestors, can provide rich insights into evolutionary histories. However, ancient DNA samples are frequently degraded, damaged and contaminated with ancient and modern DNA from various sources. This Review describes the methodological and bioinformatic advances that allow these challenges to be overcome in order to process and sequence ancient samples for genome reconstruction, as well as recent progress in characterizing ancient epigenomes.
The rate and mechanism of protein sequence evolution are fundamental questions in the field of molecular evolution. This Review examines theoretical models and empirical testing based on recent analyses of large-scale genomic data sets that have offered new insights into the determinants of the rate of protein evolution.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) repress gene expression both through initiating mRNA degradation and through translational repression. This Review describes how molecular studies and structural data are revealing key insights into both mechanisms of miRNA-mediated gene repression in animals, including their intricate interplay, and are posing new questions for future research.
