A New Study Reports that Microexon Expression May Be Misregulated in Autism
What is a microexon? The explanation may be slightly complex for those not familiar with the basics of genetics, so I’ll review a bit. First off, a gene is a […]
Tag Archives: RNA
International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) 2014
From left to right: Ami Klin, Laura Klinger, Francesca Happé, and Joe Piven. My fiancé, Manny Casanova, and I just finished attending this year’s International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) […]
The Fragile X Spectrum of Conditions
I’ve talked about Fragile X Syndrome before and its relationship to autism, albeit briefly. What I didn’t touch on, however, is that Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) isn’t the only condition […]
In Answer to David Dobbs’ Recent Question, “Why Bother Rewriting the Genome to Evolve?”
“This raises a question: if merely reading a genome differently can change organisms so wildly, why bother rewriting the genome to evolve? How vital, really, are actual changes in the […]
Continuing the Debate on “Function” in Junk DNA: Rethinking the Onion Test
“From our very early days we learn to react to situations with the appropriate responses, linguistic or otherwise. The teaching procedures both shape the ‘appearance’, or ‘phenomenon’, and establish a […]
A Few Tidbits about Epigenetics: The Methylome
The Methylome is a new toy of genetic science. It adds yet another level of complexity “above genetics”, responsible for affecting patterns of gene expression and, relevant to my line […]
Our Latest Study: The Link between Mobile Element Content and Autism-risk Genes
“An extremely large number of genes have been associated with autism. The functions of these genes span numerous domains and prove challenging in the search for commonalities underlying the conditions. […]
Responses to the ENCODE Project: When Scientists Have to Deal with Beetles in Boxes
How is the word “function” like a beetle in a box? No, this isn’t a twist on the Mad Hatter’s “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” As I’ve […]
Lazy Science: Can the Life Sciences Handle All This “Big Data”?
There was a recent article in The New Yorker titled, “Steamrolled by Big Data,” which reminded me of the trend occurring now in the Life Sciences. Even though, unlike Google, […]
The Forgotten Intron…
Let’s face it. Exons get all the glory. They’re the star players of the game, the quarterbacks, the offensive line. Meanwhile, introns and other intergenic regions play a more defensive […]
Science Over a Cuppa 
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