Society News

Last chance for Xenopus researchers! The registration and housing deadline for the 15th International Xenopus Conference, August 24–28 in Pacific Grove, CA, is TOMORROW (July 24).

Deadlines for the 27th Annual Mouse Molecular Genetics Conference are also approaching, with registration and housing due by July 31. Don’t miss out on the latest technical developments in genetics and engineering of the mouse genome!

Credit: Lucky Dog Animal Rescue www.luckydoganimalrescue.org

Domestication syndrome: More than 140 years ago, Charles Darwin noticed something peculiar about domesticated mammals. In addition to being more tame than their wild ancestors, domestic species tend to display a suite of characteristic features, including floppier ears, patches of white fur, and more juvenile faces with smaller jaws. In the latest issue of GENETICS, Perspectives editor Adam Wilkins and co-authors Richard Wrangham and Tecumseh Fitch propose a hypothesis to explain why breeding for tameness causes changes in such diverse traits. They suggest that these features could be linked by changes in the development of the embryonic neural crest. Their hypothesis has attracted considerable interest in the past week, including many international media reports (like this one from Pacific Standard), a forthcoming segment on AAAS podcast Science Update, an interesting overview in The Conversation, and an F1000 recommendation. [more...].

Photo courtesy of Brian Gratwicke CC BY 2.0 from Flickr

David Valle, recipient of ASHG’s 2014 Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award. (Courtesy: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine via ASHG)

Included in this Issue:

• Society News

• The GSA Journals

• Members in the News

• Education and Professional Development

• Funding, Fellowships, and Awards

• Policy

• Hot new research

• And finally...

July Issue July Issue

NEW POSTINGS IN GeneticsCareers.org Clinical Geneticist Position Available in Central California, Santé Health Foundation, Fresno, CA Postdoctoral position in meiotic recombination and chromosome dynamics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD Senior Biocurator, Stanford Univeristy, CA Technician/Research assistant position available, CNRS Institute of Genetics of Development of Rennes, Rennes, Post-doctoral positions available - Complexity and Variability in Cell Proliferation, CNRS Institute of Genetics of Development of Rennes, Rennes, Director, PCH Genomics Laboratory, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ GENETICS LABORATORY MANAGER, Genomex, Southbridge, Staff Scientist, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX Scientist - Genetics, Lab Pros, Inc., Boston, MA Oncology Genetic Counselor, The University of Arizona Health Network, Tucson, AZ Program Assistant, Expecting Health, Genetic Alliance, Washington, DC Director of the Center for Applied Clinical Genomics, Nemours, Wilmington, DE Senior Researcher / Lab mananger, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Postdoctoral Fellow, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Education and Professional Development

You’ve already created educational resources for your own class; why not share them and get a new publication for your CV? GSA PREP seeks useful resources, from a single case study to a full course, that will be peer-reviewed and published by GSA. We also seek high-quality images and animations and useful laboratory protocols. Our current call for resources covers the core category “Nature of genetic material,” which includes several concepts in genetics and genomics. Submit your resources to GSA PREP today, and join other authors who are reaping the benefits of published resources (with DOIs) that will be seen by thousands of visitors to GSA PREP and the LifeSciTRC library! The deadline for this call is August 31, 2014.

Looking for a postdoc, an industry job, or even a brand new career? Remember to check out GeneticsCareers.org, a joint project of GSA and ASHG. This month alone has seen fifteen new postings highlighting career opportunities across the breadth of our discipline, including academic, industry, government, and nonprofit jobs, as well as listings for postdoctoral and student positions. This free service to the genetics community provides a forum for matching qualified job seekers with careers in all areas of genetics. Job seekers can register today and post CVs to be seen by potential employers! If you have an opening in your laboratory or institution—or if you know of interesting positions available elsewhere—please post those opportunities. Registration, posting, and searching are free, quick, and easy!

Many excellent pedagogical practices have been developed with outstanding evidence of increased learning and retention; however, these have yet to be broadly implemented across universities or promoted at an institutional level. To remedy this, NSF’s Innovation Corps Team Program (I-Corps Teams) is looking for proposals that will help “widespread adoption, adaptation, and utilization” of pedagogical approaches. I-Corps for Learning will provide mentoring as well as funding to accelerate the innovation needed to spread these approaches. Please see the Dear Colleague Letter for a more detailed description of eligibility. Proposals must be submitted by September 30, 2014.

Funding, Fellowships, and Awards

NSF’s Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program provides support to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. Proposals are due August 7 for two programs: 1) CREST Partnership Supplements support the establishment or strengthening of partnerships and collaborations between active CREST Centers and nationally or internationally recognized research centers; 2) Broadening Participation Research proposals for evidence-based research studies that contribute to understanding the participation of and successful outcomes for underrepresented groups in STEM. The deadline for HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering (RISE) awards, which support the development of research capability at Historically Black Colleges and Universities that offer doctoral degrees in science and engineering disciplines, is August 13. Details are available from the NSF website.

Policy

NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is seeking feedback from the scientific community on its proposed new Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program. The MIRA program would consolidate support for an entire lab’s research program and offer higher levels of support and a longer time period than the average NIGMS R01 award. NIGMS hopes that the new approach will increase funding stability and provide the flexibility to follow important new research directions. NIGMS is asking for your feedback on the program and how well you think it will work. Comments are being accepted through August 15.

The NIGMS program is one of manyexamples of NIH institutes seeking to provide more stable support for research. NIH Director Francis Collins and Deputy DIrector for Extramural Research Sally Rockey elaborate in a new blog post.

Hot new research

Mapping what happens to each and every cell as a fly develops. Source: Phillip Keller, Janelia Farm/HHMI.

• Chimpanzee intelligence is driven half by genetic variation, half by environmental factors – just as in humans
• CRISPR genome editing can precisely remove HIV sequences from the human genome and prevent subsequent infection, according to a study in human cell lines
• Software is now available that can track every cell in the developing Drosophila embryo
• The bread wheat genome has been cracked in 4 papers from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, marking the 100th anniversary of Nobel Laureate and plant geneticist Norman Borlaug’s birth
• Roughly half of the genetic risk for autism can be attributed to common gene variants, rather than rare ones or mutations
• Disabling a malaria heat shock protein blocks protein secretion and kills the parasite, indicating a new drug target

And finally…

Recent highlights from the GSA’s social networking platforms.  Keep up with the buzz by joining us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+:

• A new study finds that fewer than 1% of scientists manage to publish a paper every year
• DNA-based dating is here: USA TODAY discusses one company's predictions of romantic compatibility based on genetics
• Some advice on how to read and understand a scientific paper, for scientists and non-scientists alike!
• All 7 UK research councils are banding together to fight antimicrobial resistance, pouring in £25 million to start
• A genetic basis for friendship? A new study finds that our friends tend to be as genetically similar as our fourth cousins
• Genome sequencing, international research collaborations, and social media come together to fight a rare congenital disorder of glycosylation, reports the New Yorker
• The Broad Institute has received the largest-ever donation for psychiatric research: a $650 million donation from philanthropist Ted Stanley, which the institute will use to fund genetic and molecular research into mental disorders

Deadline for next issue: August 1, 2014. Send items (and feedback) to GSA's Communications and Engagement Manager, Raeka Aiyar, raiyar@genetics-gsa.org.

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