Arsenic Bacteria Paper criticism

Lesson: don't hold a press conference for your paper...?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/science/14arsenic.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=arsenic&st=cse

Interspecific competition and species distributions

old mouse, young mouse

New Nature paper on reverse-aging and telemerases in mice.

Prestin evolution in bats and whales

Another great example of convergent molecular mechanisms.

(thanks, Tim!) -- oops, see Tim's post from Oct 26th... I should really read this blog more -B

Adaptation genomics: the next generation

New review in TREE...

Neanderthal tooth development

New article in PNAS by Tanya Smith et al...

A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus

The title pretty much says it all. The bacterium GFAJ-1, hailing from Mono Lake, CA, has been persuaded to substitute arsenic for phosphorus to sustain growth. This is potentially major in terms of biochem/life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe. Not strictly anthro-based, but very cool and extremely relevant to molecular evolution.