Genome promise

Genome promise

masculinity. ‘I should imagine, when they opened up the Y-chromosome, scientists thought they knew what they would see,’ wrote Caitlin Moran in the Times of London. ‘A pile of old vinyl. The off-side rule. Pants their mothers bought them. A Yorkie bar. Absolute, unbloodied optimism that you can succeed at anything — rewiring a whole house, winning a war, lifting something heavy — except fightin...

The Human Genome Project--promise and problems.

The Promise and Limitations of Genome-wide Association Studies

AS OF MAY 30, 2012, THE CATALOG OF PUBLISHED GEnome-wide association studies (GWAS) lists an impressive 1269 GWAS, covering a broad spectrum of conditions including Alzheimer disease, breast cancer, and human immunodeficiency virus susceptibility. The catalog also contains studies on common traits such as height and freckles, as well as responses to drugs for various medical conditions. It is d...

Drosophila genome-wide RNAi screens: are they delivering the promise?

The emergence of RNA interference (RNAi) on the heels of the successful completion of the Drosophila genome project was seen by many as the ace in functional genomics: Its application would quickly assign a function to all genes in this organism and help delineate the complex web of interactions or networks linking them at the systemic level. A few years wiser and a number of genome-wide Drosop...

The health promise of Promise Neighborhoods.

The Promise Neighborhoods initiative from the U.S. Department of Education offers grant funding to develop innovative educational and community support programs in distressed communities. Inspired by the success of the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), this initiative encourages similarly pioneering approaches to assist low-income children attain academic and social success. An increasing body of e...