MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'biodiversity'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:20:52 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3552209&cid=t_126566_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2F177735%2F Biodiversity Sucks: The United Nations Global Biodiversity Outlook report was released today, and it’s not lookin’ good. GOOD blog theorizes that biodiversity will improve when our wallets are hit by high gas prices. Post from: BlissTree (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3552209 Mon, 10 May 2010 18:00:37 +0100 3552209 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3279943&cid=t_126566_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006950.html The natural history of the planet Earth is full of extreme events that would wipe out humans if they occurred today. Geoengineering -- deliberate manipulation of the Earth's climate to slow or reverse global warming -- has gained a foothold in the climate change discussion. But before effective action can be taken, the Earth's natural biogeochemical cycles must be better understood. Two Northwestern University studies, both published online recently by Nature Geoscience, contribute new -- and related -- clues as to what drove large-scale changes to the carbon cycle nearly 100 million years ago. Both research teams conclude that a massive amount of volcanic activity introduced carbon dioxide and sulfur into the atmosphere, which in turn had a significant impact... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3279943 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3279943 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2908809&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F10%2Fat-intersection-of-evolution.php If you're at ASHG, a session you might want to attend, Scale Effects and Recent Brain Evolution: Theory and Preliminary Evidence. Here's the abstract:What forces have driven human evolution since the grand human diaspora? In this paper, I argue that the scale effects so central to endogenous growth theory in the field of economics (e.g., Kremer's widely-cited "Population Growth and Technological Change: 1,000,000 B.C. to 1990," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1993) have been important drivers of human brain development since the diaspora. Scale effects have made prominent appearances in recent explanations of continent-level outcomes. For instance, in Kremer’s model, big continents create larger, denser, faster-growing populations. In Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel model, wide contin... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2908809 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:29:00 +0100 2908809 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2894691&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F10%2Fgenes-vs-environment-athletics.php The GSS variable GENENVO4:Character, personality, and many types of behavior are influenced both by the genes people inherit from their parents and by what they learn and experience as they grow up. For each of the following descriptions, we would like you to indicate what percent of the person's behavior you believe is influenced by the genes they inherit, and what percent is influenced by their learning and experience and other aspects of their environment. The boxes on handcard D1 are arranged so that the first box on the LEFT (which is numbered 1) represents 100% genetic influence (and 0% environment). The next box (numbered 2) represents 95% genes (and 5% environment), and so on. The RIGHTMOST box (numbered 21) represents 100% environmental influence (and no genetic influence). After ... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2894691 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:26:00 +0100 2894691 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851969&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FPiFMx9Tdeck%2F Countries all over the world are taking serious steps to stop the swine flu pandemic. China began its mass vaccination last week. And by October 5, the United States will distribute the first wave of swine flu vaccines, good for 6 million to million people. But the swiftness of government health agencies and the World Health Organization to address this issue is evidence about how rapid the H1N1 influenza virus has spread. It bears repeating that we need to take precautions in protecting ourselves and our families against the H1N1. What symptoms do you look for in swine flu? The symptoms of swine flu are similar to regular season flu, so report to your doctor if you have any symptoms. You will not know just from the symptoms what kind of flu you have. I know it can seem very confusing wit... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851969 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:54:05 +0100 2851969 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2842704&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FPiFMx9Tdeck%2F Countries all over the world are taking serious steps to stop the swine flu pandemic. China began its mass vaccination last week. And by October 5, the United States will distribute the first wave of swine flu vaccines, good for 6 million to million people. But the swiftness of government health agencies and the World Health Organization to address this issue is evidence about how rapid the H1N1 influenza virus has spread. It bears repeating that we need to take precautions in protecting ourselves and our families against the H1N1. What symptoms do you look for in swine flu? The symptoms of swine flu are similar to regular season flu, so report to your doctor if you have any symptoms. You will not know just from the symptoms what kind of flu you have. I know it can seem very confusing w... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2842704 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:54:05 +0100 2842704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2719909&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F08%2Fdifferences-in-human-universals-on.php Neuroskeptic reviews new research which reports that East Asians and Europeans perceive facial expressions differently. Yes, differences do seem to exist, at least within the small sample studied, but there is a great deal of overlap. Of course much of the phenomena of interest are on the margins anyhow. Speaking of which, Genetic and Molecular Basis of Individual Differences in Human Umami Taste Perception:Population diversities of SNPs in TAS1R1 and TAS1R3 have been reported by Kim et al...Minor allele frequencies of the SNP at 372 in TAS1R1 vary among eight populations; 10% in Cameroonian, 0% in Amerindian (native Americans), 25% in North European, 35% in Japanese, 5% in Russian, 35% in Hungarian, 40% in Chinese and 6% in Pakistani, whereas those at 757 in TAS1R3 showed no obvious diffe... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2719909 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:55:00 +0100 2719909 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2626205&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F07%2Fgenetic-background-medicine.php The Duffy-null state is associated with a survival advantage in leukopenic HIV-infected persons of African ancestry:Persons of African ancestry, on average, have lower white blood cell (WBC) counts than those of European descent (ethnic leukopenia), but whether this impacts negatively on HIV-1 disease course remains unknown. Here, in a large natural history cohort of HIV-infected subjects we show that although leukopenia...was associated with an accelerated HIV disease course, this effect was more prominent in leukopenic subjects of European than African ancestry. The African-specific -46C/C genotype of Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) confers the malaria-resisting, Duffy-null phenotype, and we found that the recently described association of this genotype with ethnic leukopeni... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2626205 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:24:00 +0100 2626205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2615449&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F07%2Fiq-heart-disease.php IQ Explains Some Of The Difference In Heart Disease Between People Of High And Low Socio-economic Status:Authors of the study published in the European Heart Journal on 15 July...analysed data from a group of 4,289 former soldiers in the USA. They found that IQ explained more than 20% of the difference in mortality between people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds compared to those from more advantaged backgrounds. Importantly, this was in addition to the classical, known risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking and obesity...."The difference between the second and third analyses showed that IQ alone explained a further 23% of the differences in mortality between the higher and lower ends of the socio-economic spectrum, in addition to the other, known risk factors," s... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2615449 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:21:00 +0100 2615449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2442296&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fsex-differences-and-variation-in.php Look before you leap: Are women pre-disposed to be more risk averse than male adventurers?:"It's not at all that women are risk averse," says Jody Radtke, program director for the Women's Wilderness Institute in Boulder, Colorado. When men are confronted with challenging situations, they typically produce adrenaline, which is what causes them to run around, hollering like frat boys at a kegger. An adrenaline rush is a good feeling, but when confronted with the same situation, women produce a different chemical, called acetylcholine."Pretty much what (acetylcholine) does is it makes you want to vomit," says Jody.Because women don't have the same positive chemical reward, they tend to be less pumped about confronting stressful situations. This leads them to rely on decision-making. Essential... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2442296 Thu, 28 May 2009 00:21:00 +0100 2442296 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2104563&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Flook-me-in-eye.php Serotonin Transporter Genotype Modulates Social Reward and Punishment in Rhesus Macaques (paper is OA, so click through for stats & charts):Serotonin signaling influences social behavior in both human and nonhuman primates. In humans, variation upstream of the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) has recently been shown to influence both behavioral measures of social anxiety and amygdala response to social threats. Here we show that length polymorphisms in 5-HTTLPR predict social reward and punishment in rhesus macaques, a species in which 5-HTTLPR variation is analogous to that of humans.In contrast to monkeys with two copies of the long allele (L/L), monkeys with one copy of the short allele of this gene (S/L) spent less time gazing at face than non-face images, l... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2104563 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:29:00 +0100 2104563 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2074266&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fethnic-differences-in-morality.php Everyone & their mother is emailing me about Jonathan Haidt's new commentary in Edge, FASTER EVOLUTION MEANS MORE ETHNIC DIFFERENCES:I believe that the "Bell Curve" wars of the 1990s, over race differences in intelligence, will seem genteel and short-lived compared to the coming arguments over ethnic differences in moralized traits. I predict that this "war" will break out between 2012 and 2017.There are reasons to hope that we'll ultimately reach a consensus that does not aid and abet racism. I expect that dozens or hundreds of ethnic differences will be found, so that any group - like any person - can be said to have many strengths and a few weaknesses, all of which are context-dependent. Furthermore, these cross-group differences are likely to be small when compared to the enormous... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2074266 Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:44:00 +0100 2074266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2065362&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fsex-differences-in-math.php THE MATH SEX GAP REVISITED: A THEORY OF EVERYONE by La Griffe, via Half Sigma. (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2065362 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:12:00 +0100 2065362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2040101&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fwhat-is-that-mystery-parameter.php Post-Columbian population movements and the roots of world inequality:Why should we care about the apparently powerful influence that population origins exert on country and sub-national incomes levels?First, if this influence is indeed as significant as our findings suggest it to be, then efforts to sort out the roles that geographic, institutional, and other factors play in explaining income levels and growth rates may produce misleading results unless we properly control for it.Second, the influence of population origins suggests that there is something that human families and communities transmit from generation to generation -- perhaps a form of economic culture, a set of attitudes or beliefs, or informally transmitted capabilities -- that is of at least similar importance to economic... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2040101 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:38:00 +0100 2040101 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035837&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fnlsy-blogging-eye-and-hair-color-of.php So sayeth Aggro in the thread down below:"They should have measured eye and hair color -- we don't have any representative data! Seriously, they'll take extra long to measure all kinds of weird things that only an anthropometer would know of, but not eye and hair color."I too have previously lamented this odd failure in easy measurement. A literature search had me coming up short for an adequate published sample of American eye and hair color. The best estimate I could cobble together from several small studies was that about 25% of American whites were blond. But, Ho Ho!, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is online and carries these simple treasures within its bosom.The following hair and eye color information was self-reported in 1985 by a representative sample of those born betw... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035837 Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:28:00 +0100 2035837 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2017821&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fhuman-variation-proportional-to.php Distance from Africa, not climate, explains within-population phenotypic diversity in humans:The relative importance of ancient demography and climate in determining worldwide patterns of human within-population phenotypic diversity is still open to debate. Several morphometric traits have been argued to be under selection by climatic factors, but it is unclear whether climate affects the global decline in morphological diversity with increasing geographical distance from sub-Saharan Africa. Using a large database of male and female skull measurements, we apply an explicit framework to quantify the relative role of climate and distance from Africa. We show that distance from sub-Saharan Africa is the sole determinant of human within-population phenotypic diversity, while climate plays no r... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2017821 Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:34:00 +0100 2017821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1968920&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F11%2Fkenan-malik-and-kerry-howely-on-race.php I really don't have much to add that's original, I've long tired of the "definition wars." Early this year Steve wrote a column rebutting some criticisms that Malik makes of his definition of race in Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate. The book is out in the United States now...I'm halfway through it, and there's nothing new to anyone who reads this weblog. The fundamental problem is that it is too easy to use the statistical inferences which are generated by human population genetics as a launching point for a thousand verbal shell games. Like the species concept debate I think pragmatists are well advised to be instrumentalists.Here is what L. L. Cavalli-Sforza said 2 years ago after I asked him about Lewontin's Fallacy:Edwards and Lewontin are both right. Lewonti... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1968920 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:29:00 +0100 1968920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1779291&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2Fbarack-obama-on-bell-curve.php Jason's comment deserves promotion so that Google picks it up:NPROctober 28, 1994SHOW: All Things Considered (NPR 4:30 pm ET)Charles Murray's Political Expediency DenouncedBYLINE: BARACK OBAMASECTION: News; DomesticLENGTH: 635 wordsHIGHLIGHT: Commentator Barack Obama finds that Charles Murray, author of the controversial "The Bell Curve," demonstrates not scientific expertise but spurious political motivation in his conclusions about race and IQ.BARACK OBAMA, Commentator: Charles Murray is inviting American down a dangerous path.NOAH ADAMS, Host: Civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama.Mr. OBAMA: The idea that inferior genes account for the problems of the poor in general, and blacks in particular, isn't new, of course. Racial supremacists have been using IQ tests to support their theories since... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1779291 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:09:00 +0100 1779291 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1603090&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F07%2Fbooks-of-interest.php Some sources/influences on my previous post, and my thinking in general, are listed below. I'm not recommending that everyone run off and buy all of these books, but they might pique your curiosity. Of course, to the extent one has time, it's always good to read and re-read the classic h-bd/evolutionary psychology writers such as Herrnstein & Murray, Sailer, Pinker, Dawkins, Dennet, and E.O. Wilson.I consider all of these works, as those of Murray, Sailer, Pinker, Plomin et. al. to be good examples of what George Orwell called "the empirical habit of thought," which I believe is critical to understanding human diversity and defeating what Godless Capitalist termed the "Death Star 2.0" [see comments] version of PC. In fact, all the books below except (perhaps) for the textbook Multivari... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603090 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:21:00 +0100 1603090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1603091&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F07%2Fhave-multiple-intelligence-theories.php [this is a slightly edited version of what was originally a haloscan comment]I have come to believe that it is crucial to realize that there are other factors in intelligence besides g and its subfactors (e.g. math/performance, visuospatial, verbal, short-term memory). This is important not only factually and scientifically, but politically as well; a less g/traditional IQ-based theory of intelligence and human biodiversity is probably both more accurate and more politically palatable than a heavily g-centered one. The main drawback is that such a theory is also unfortunately quite complicated and difficult to test. Many apparently non-g factors are almost certainly correlated with g, but they are not the same thing. In terms of higher-visibility phenomena, this would mean factors like cre... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603091 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:46:00 +0100 1603091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1677210&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FRwiET3PhRNw%2F This study provides the most evidence so far for Darwin’s prediction, thanks to the new complete ‘family tree’ for mammals, developed by Imperial biologists last year, and new comprehensive data on the location and make-up of different mammal communities worldwide. The new research focused on communities of three different types of mammals: new world monkeys (including marmosets, tamarins and spider monkeys), possums, and ground squirrels (including marmots, prairie dogs and chipmunks). For further information, click on: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_28-5-2008-10-20-29?newsid=37114 Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com Tags: Ancestry, biodiversity, EvolutionShare This (Source: Genetics and Health) Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1677210 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:00:34 +0100 1677210 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2902921&cid=t_126566_132_f&fid=35001&url=http%3A%2F%2Farchive.nodalpoint.org%2F2008%2F06%2F03%2Fhunting_for_cytochrome_p450_genes_in_maize Hello, Just wondering if anyone on nodalpoint is in a position to help with gene hunting for cytochrome p450 genes in Maize (just for fun)? Some more details at whether maize carries the protective cytochrome p450 or the “defective” version of the gene and Researchers Identify Genetic “Fix” for Problem in Some Sweet Corn Hybrids. This is for a long lost friend of mine Jeremy Cherfas who is a biologist, but computer literate. He writes good books about the human genome (for example) and is just curious to do some experimental and exploratory bioinformatics, just for kicks but with a special interest in Agricultural Biodiversity. read more (Source: nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog) nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2902921 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:19:16 +0100 2902921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1484932&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Fselection-speculation-clock-and-reward.php Since so many comments lead off with some variant of "I would guess," why not try to corrall them all into one post where they could serve a purpose? Each week I'll find some area of the human genome that shows signs of recent selection, see what phenotypes the gene affects, and although I'll likely provide the most convincing story, readers can conjecture to their heart's content about what might have driven selection. It may, for once, improve the discussion to comment while still deranged from last night's drink.Let's start with the data: using Haplotter, we see that for the gene CLOCK, there is a signal of recent selection in Africans but not in Europeans or Asians. The CLOCK gene is involved in maintaining our circadian rhythm, and I started this search looking for between-group diffe... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1484932 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:39:00 +0100 1484932 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1488301&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F302815550%2F (Photo credit: www.marinebio.org)  At the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Bonn nearly 200 countries agreed on measures to protect the world’s most threatened wildlife.  They pledged: 1. To set up a deep-sea nature reserve and increase by tens of millions of hectares the area of land protected (the resulting protected area would be twice the size of Germany). 2. To ban experiments to boost plankton growth to reverse climate change, because of the potential risks to other animals. 3. To set global standards for developing biofuels, a renewable energy that has been blamed for deforestation. But environmentalists said the progress achieved at the conference was still failing the UN Millennium Development Goal, which aims to “substantially reduce” biodiversi... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1488301 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:05:58 +0100 1488301 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1472532&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F05%2Fgroup-differences-within-and-between.php The debate over at The American Scene on Jim Manzi's article "Undetermined" is now closed to comments so I couldn't respond to one of the comments but the beauty of being a blogger is that you can use your own forum to vent your response.The comment that I desperately wanted to respond to was left by Joe Shipman and reads as follows:One thing that is established beyond any possibility of scientific doubt, of course, is that the genetic variability in IQ within races is much larger than the variability between races; any ethnic group of nontrivial size will have plenty of smart people and plenty of dumb people, and basing, say, educational policy on group rather than individual characteristics is therefore not only unAmerican but scientifically misguided.Joe, will you join with me in advoca... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1472532 Tue, 27 May 2008 20:59:00 +0100 1472532 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458593&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F05%2Fgender-science.php My friend Jake Young has a post up, Contrasting Views on the Gender Disparity in Science:Second, one of my primary arguments against innate differences in ability between men and women is that you are dealing with traits that have distributions and those distributions largely overlap. Making a statement about any individual man or woman is largely useless. The odds of a women or man selected at random being better or worse at math are not particularly different. This argument applies just as well to differences in preference. Maybe there are differences on average, but they are still distributions that overlap. The key question becomes: to what degree do those distributions overlap? How different on men's and women's preferences on average?James Crow's Unequal by nature: a geneticist's per... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458593 Tue, 20 May 2008 20:12:00 +0100 1458593 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1371965&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F04%2Feuropeans-jews-and-middle-easterners.php Greg's post about SNPs, Jews and evolutionary genetic parameters has been getting a lot of play around the blogs & forums. Most of it seems to be due to the persistent interest in the genetic relationship of Ashkenazi Jews to other European populations. This makes sense, since the 19th century the question of how the "Jewish race" relates to European gentiles has had some sociopolitical relevance.... But a commenter at Steve's blog pointed out that Bauchet et al. from last year had a PC chart which included Armenians, who are I think a good proxy for northern Middle Eastern populations in general. One interesting result from surveys of Y chromosomal lineages is the finding that Jews may have more affinities with northern Levantine & Anatolian Middle Eastern populations than with s... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1371965 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:26:00 +0100 1371965 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1356174&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F04%2Famy-harmon-wins-pulitzer.php PULITZER WINNER: Harmon of 'NYT' Studied DNA After Birth of Child . Recall that Harmon interviewed a contributor to this weblog as well as Half Sigma for a recent article.Via Jonathan Eisen. (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1356174 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:34:00 +0100 1356174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1340656&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F04%2Fmassive-qtl-for-iq-discovered.php Just got a note from someone I trust that a massive QTL for IQ has been discovered, on the order of 10 points in effect for a substitution of the the major allele for the minor (it's additive and independent, so homozygote minor allele ~ 20 points greater than homozygote major allele). The novel variant is found in an ethnic-religious minority population and no other phenotypic effects are discernble for those who carry the IQ boosting polymorphism. Everything is very preliminary at this point...but they've checked and re-checked and this seems to be real. There are two genes previous implicated in neurological pathologies in this region of the genome, so a molecular genetic & physiological story should be easy to extract.I'm being a little vague on the details for obvious reasons; no ... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1340656 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:06:00 +0100 1340656 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1291060&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F03%2Fde-brownification-of-brown-people.php About a year ago a paper came out, Low Levels of Genetic Divergence across Geographically and Linguistically Diverse Populations from India. The authors used Asian Indian groups from the United States, ergo, the caste/class representativeness is not is very typical. Additionally, there is a strong skew to Gujaratis since this group represents 1/2 of American Asian Indians. One could offer the reasonable opinion that the low amount of between population variance is simply a function of the fact that higher status groups across South Asia are not particularly differentiated from each other. I don't have a final opinion, but I would be moderately skeptical of this because I've seen enough work in the past suggesting that Brahmins, for example, are not particularly closely related to each acro... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1291060 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:22:00 +0100 1291060 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1289781&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F03%2Fshapes-of-human-variation.php Most of you probably know about the "species problem." The short of it is that even though the level of the species is probably the most justifiable one within the hierarchy of taxonomic systems (as opposed to say genus or order), it is not a cut & dried category. I tend to agree with evolgen that the nature of the species concept you use is going to be guided by instrumental concerns. If you are are focused upon taxonomy I have no doubt that the phylogenetic species concept is the bomb. On the other hand, if you are an evolutionary geneticist interested in speciation the details of the structure of the tree of life is less important. You would be more interested in how the branching occurs, in which case the biological species concept and its cousins are of more relevance. During the ... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1289781 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:21:00 +0100 1289781 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1266607&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Fgene-expression-differences-between.php Evaluation of Genetic Variation Contributing to Differences in Gene Expression between Populations (Open Access):Gene expression is a complex quantitative trait partially regulated by genetic variation in DNA sequence. Population differences in gene expression could contribute to some of the observed differences in susceptibility to common diseases and response to drug treatments. We characterized gene expression in the full set of HapMap lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from individuals of European and African ancestry for 9156 transcript clusters...Gene expression was found to differ significantly between these samples for 383 transcript clusters. Biological processes including ribosome biogenesis and antimicrobial humoral response were found to be enriched in these differential genes, ... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1266607 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:36:00 +0100 1266607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1263431&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Fmore-pathogens-equals-more-collectivism.php Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism (Open Access):...We suggest that specific behavioural manifestations of collectivism (e.g. ethnocentrism, conformity) can inhibit the transmission of pathogens; and so we hypothesize that collectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterize cultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens. Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwide cross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, our results support this hypothesis: the regional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation with cultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation with individualism. The correlations remain significant even when cont... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1263431 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:07:00 +0100 1263431 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1240209&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Finterracial-marriage-and-asian.php As a follow up to Assman's last post I was thinking I should link to this article from Asian-Nation which parses Census 2000 data on interracial marriage of various Asian American groups. Do read the article (caveats appropriate to identity politics organs), but I just took their data and placed it below the fold. Also, I modified it a little and added the ratios of men to women who marry whites by generation and immigration status. That is, the Census broke up individuals according to whether they were immigrants, or US-raised or born. There are some caveats with analyzing the data in that way; Asian Indians and Vietnamese have only 1 US-raised or born generation which is actually marrying right now. These groups are post-1965, in contrast to Japanese Americans, who are predominantly US-... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1240209 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:55:00 +0100 1240209 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1191407&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F01%2Fskin-color-is-deceptive-character.php The figure to the left is from Signatures of Positive Selection in Genes Associated with Human Skin Pigmentation as Revealed from Analyses of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. I thought of this chart when considering the idea that the phenotypic races that we see around us might be relatively new; perhaps an artifact of recent human evolution. Look at "Oceania," those are Bougainville Islanders, from off the coast of Papua New Guinea. In the CEPH-HGDP populations the "South Asians" are from the much lighter skinned northwest fringe of the subcontinent; otherwise, I suspect you would be seeing the South Asian group moving toward the location of the Bougainville Islanders. This is not a surprising finding, earlier studies implied that very dark-skinned populations tended to exhibit a "consens... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1191407 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:05:00 +0100 1191407 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1179951&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F01%2Fwhat-shades-of-humanity-should-be.php From Geographic distribution of environmental factors influencing human skin coloration:...The UVR [ultraviolet radiation] data recorded by satellite were combined with environmental variables and data on human skin reflectance in a geographic information system (GIS). These were then analyzed visually and statistically through exploratory data analysis, correlation analysis, principal components analysis, least-squares regression analysis, and nonlinear techniques. The main finding of this study was that the evolution of skin reflectance could be almost fully modeled as a linear effect of UVR in the autumn alone. This linear model needs only minor modification, by the introduction of terms for the maximum amount of UVR, and for summer precipitation and winter precipitation, to account for... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1179951 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:12:00 +0100 1179951 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1159520&cid=t_126566_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F01%2Fworld-turned-upside-down.php A site with the URL Anthropology.net puts up a post titled Fighting the mantra, "People vary more within the groups than vary between groups"? What's going on here! Since Lewontin's Fallacy is one of the axioms at the heart of much of modern anthropology (that is, when anthropologists bother to accept the validity of linear-logo-centric analytic frames), I think someone might have their card revoked soon. Be afraid! Of course, we know what type of person runs Anthropology.net....Readers who want to dig deeper into the nature of the pretty charts in the papers that the apostate anthropologist mentions above should check out Inference of Population Structure Using Multilocus Genotype Data: Linked Loci and Correlated Allele Frequencies, an early paper introducing STRUCTURE. K's in the hiz hou... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1159520 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:26:00 +0100 1159520 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=687047&cid=t_126566_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F126545159%2F A follow-up to the previous post about the start of summer: Page 3.14 on Science Blogs notes that not only is “time spent outside is good for our mental health” (as proved by “myriad studies“), but greater biodiversity has greater benefits: the extent of psychological benefits people enjoy from a walk in the park correlates directly to the extent of biodiversity in that park. Consciously or subconsciously, participants in the study more or less accurately perceived species richness in urban greenspaces, and felt proportionally restored by it. No wonder Charlie runs so fast, sandals and shirt discarded, to be in that big blue ocean, and is he always ready to “go outside” and be where the real wild things are. The Scientific Activist explains why, with re... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=687047 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:25:13 +0100 687047 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=490704&cid=t_126566_132_f&fid=35001&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nodalpoint.org%2F2007%2F03%2F21%2Fbioguid_info I've put together a web site called http://bioguid.info which, rather grandly, is an attempt to bootstrap the biodiversity Semantic Web by providing resolvable URIs for biological objects, such as publications, taxonomic names, nucleotide sequences, and specimens. These URIs (or "GUIDs") can be resolved by a web browser to display HTML, but under the hood are resolved to RDF (which you can see by viewing the source of the web page you get for a URI). read more (Source: nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog) nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=490704 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:26:58 +0100 490704