Background: One important reproductive characteristic of Mammals is the production of milk to nurse the neonate. In order to better understand the evolution of milk we have investigated gene expression in milk cells from monotremes which are the most ancient representative of the mammalian lineage. Materials and Methods: Using a milk cell cDNA sequencing approach we characterise milk protein se...

One of the greatest hindrances to a comprehensive understanding of microbial genomics, cell biology, ecology, and evolution is that most microbial life is not in culture. Solutions to this problem have mainly focused on whole-community surveys like metagenomics, but these analyses inevitably loose information and present particular challenges for eukaryotes, which are relatively rare and posses...

Bioinformatics is an art and science concerned with the use of computing in biological research areas such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, genetics, and evolution. This review paints a broad picture of bioinformatics, drawing examples from genomic sequencing and microarray analysis. I highlight the role of bioinformatics at multiple points along the path from high-tech data generation...

The development and function of our brain are governed by a genetic blueprint, which reflects dynamic changes over the history of evolution. Recent progress in genetics and genomics, facilitated by next-generation sequencing and single-cell sorting, has identified numerous genomic loci that are associated with a neuroanatomical or neurobehavioral phenotype. Here, we review some of the genetic c...

Testes-biased genes evolve rapidly and are important in the establishment, solidification, and maintenance of reproductive isolation between incipient species. The Anopheles gambiae complex, a group of at least eight isomorphic mosquito species endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa, is an excellent system to explore the evolution of testes-biased genes. Within this group, the testes are an important ti...