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Recent progress has changed our view of how Polycomb group complexes are recruited and how they affect chromatin and repress gene activity. The authors review our current understanding of PcG mechanisms and their implications for the programming of gene expression in development.
Despite the key role of recombination in meiosis, increasing evidence indicates substantial variation in recombination rates among humans, and between humans and other mammals. Understanding the forces that shape this variation will require a combination of evolutionary and molecular perspectives.
Heterochromatin was once considered the less-interesting part of the genome, the junk that had to be dealt with by being silenced. Recent studies in fission yeast indicate that heterochromatin has a role in various chromosomal processes, including transcription, chromosome segregation and long-range chromatin interactions.
Gene expression levels are adjusted to compensate for the different numbers of sex chromosomes in males and females, although the mechanisms for doing this vary between species. Recent data show how dosage compensation is fine-tuned by modulating chromatin structure.
The mouse is a powerful model for elucidating the genetic basis of complex human traits and diseases. One reason for this is the wealth of available resources for mouse genetics that has been built up over the past 100 years.
Non-invasive techniques for prenatal diagnosis are extremely advantageous in terms of both safety and cost. The discovery of fetal nucleic acids in the maternal plasma has led to the development of many non-invasive tests.
This article argues that recombination has a far more important role in the evolution of plant genomes than is currently appreciated, and that genome-wide patterns of recombination might explain some intriguing differences between plant and animal genomes.
