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Volume 38 Issue 2, February 2006

Cover art: "Medusa" by John King. Printed at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. http://www.contemprints.org/

Volume 38 Issue 2

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Editorial

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Book Review

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News & Views

  • Neural tube defects (NTDs) represent a broad and complex class of brain malformations, and despite much progress in understanding their etiology, many facets of neural tube development and closure remain obscure. Two new studies report the identification of the first two genes responsible for Meckel-Gruber syndrome, one of the major contributors to syndromic NTDs, and implicate defective cilia in its pathogenesis.

    • Nicholas Katsanis
    News & Views

  • Anthrax lethal toxin lyses macrophages derived from certain inbred mice but not others, forming the basis of a bioassay widely used in the development of antibodies and drugs to treat anthrax. A new study identifies two genes essential for this lysis, revealing potential links between toxin-induced proteolysis and cellular killing.

    • Thomas H Bugge
    • Stephen H Leppla
    News & Views

  • An important role of RNA interference (RNAi)-like pathways in plants is defense against viral infection. Viruses can overcome this defense by expressing proteins that suppress the pathway. A new study of Agrobacterium tumefaciens infection reveals that this plant pathogen, although a bacterium, also induces and then suppresses the host RNAi response.

    • Peter M Waterhouse
    News & Views

  • Common cardiovascular diseases are expressed as genetically complex traits, and identifying the underlying genes is difficult. A new study provides resources required for a more integrative view of cardiovascular systems.

    • Norbert Hubner
    News & Views

  • The sequence of a second chimpanzee Y chromosome has been determined. It confirms the degradation of four genes on the chimpanzee lineage, reveals the recent gain of one on the human lineage and emphasizes the low Y-chromosomal genetic diversity within western chimpanzees.

    • Chris Tyler-Smith
    • Kevin Howe
    • Fabrício R Santos
    News & Views
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Research Highlights

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Perspective

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Brief Communication

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Article

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Letter

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Corrigendum

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