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Many factors other than protein structure and function affect the rate of protein evolution. Advances in genomics make it possible to assess the contribution of all these factors and move towards a more integrated view of how proteins evolve.
Stem-cell systems all raise similar kinds of issues concerning the nature of the niche and the differentiation process. Genetic studies of the intestinal stem-cell system have made strides in providing generally applicable answers to such questions.
Although major molecular players with a role in mesoderm induction have been identified, high-throughput approaches are beginning to yield data that will help us to understand how the embryo integrates and processes the various signals during mesoderm induction.
Carrying out high-throughput, cell-based RNA interference screens involves making a range of decisions, from choosing the cell type and reagents to picking strategies for optimization and validation. Informed planning at each stage allows the power of this approach to be maximized.
Although they are sometimes overlooked, family-based designs provide important advantages for detecting genetic associations in studies of complex disease. In particular, they provide a means of overcoming the problems that arise when multiple hypotheses are tested in genome-wide association studies.
A growing body of evidence indicates that epigenetic states can be influenced by the environment. Considering that erasure of epigenetic marks between generations is not universal among multicellular organisms, what are the potential implications of inherited epigenetic variation for current theories of inheritance and evolutionary change?
Understanding how developmental processes are altered evolutionarily to produce changes in organismal form is one of the great challenges of evo–devo research. D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson deserves much credit for the inspiration his work has provided for modern evo–devo.
